Kana Kronicles: Beginnings
by AnonymousGX
Summary: November 2013, I was taken to another universe. Now, I'm ready to share my effect on those worlds to everyone. My purpose while there: define the balance of Light and Dark. But first, I must figure something out. Who will be my companions for this journey?
1. Prologue

_I can't believe what happened that night so long ago. While I was asleep, I met Yen Sid in his tower from the Kingdom Hearts series. What he told me convinced me to write down in journals what happened._

_All too soon, my time in that universe ended. When I woke up, the very same journals were with me on my bed. After considering what to do with them, I decided to publish them to see if anyone else had an experience like mine. **However, since I own the rights to nothing that I experienced, and am making no money off of this, I'm putting it here.**_  
_But why did I originally want to publish in non-fiction? Well, I'll just stop talking and transcribe the journals, with additional details from my memories._  
_But first, a little bit about me. I'm Kana Berury Mooneyes. I'm 17, a little over 6 feet tall, and am mixed Brazilian/Native Hawaiian descent. I get my middle name from my grandma's hometown, and the rest is my father's Hawaiian upbringing. My few inches long, wavy hair is a deep brown, as well as my eyes and tanned skin. I may have some Tongan in me, giving me my strength, but I'm still limber enough to pass gymnastics. When I was in my dreams, I wore dark brown shorts and a blue shirt, designed like a tropical beach._

* * *

The first time I went to Yen Sid's tower, he and I were alone in the office room. The doors to both the stairwell and the side room (the one where Sora got his clothes from the Three Good Fairies) were closed and sealed shut. Even the windows were covered. "It is an honor to meet you, boy from the World of Origin," he greeted, head and shoulders performing a small bow. He was seated at his desk, a weird, big book in front of him. "Will you please tell me your name?"

"It's Kana. Kana Berury Mooneyes," I told him, bowing back. But I was curious, just a minute ago, I barely laid down in my bed at 9 PM. I always take at least an hour and a half to fall asleep, and I wasn't very sleepy before this dream suddenly started. "Am I dreaming, and so soon?"

"In a way," Yen Sid told me sternly. "While it may seem like a dream to you, it is certainly real for us in this universe."

"Wait, what do you mean by this universe?" I asked him. At first, I thought he was referring to 'my' personal dream world.

"Let me put it this way," Yen Sid began, "Centuries ago, these worlds were formed by different men. Decades ago, a man named Walt Disney appeared and gathered these individual worlds into one whole. He created me, to serve as his watching eyes in this world while he was gone. As such, I am immune to tampering by others, although I fulfill the role requested of me. More than a decade ago, somebody new came and organized these worlds after this order, introducing new people, places, and enemies.

"These men were from your world, Kana. Their dream self, or their imagination, was strong enough for them to discover their personal universe, and shape it to their desires. However, even though this world was created through a dream, this isn't any more a dreaming world than when I dreamed of you while searching the world that Walt Disney came from."

I thought I got what he was getting at here. Basically, every story, every dream, every 'what if', was just another multi-verse or alternate possible timeline. It doesn't care about another's history, it doesn't care about another's physics, chemistry, or even biology; it goes by its own rules. And if another world dreamed, made a story, or asked 'what if', it was creating or discovering another world.

Wait a minute... "Why did you search for me?" I asked him.

"Because Kana, you are a strong dreamer," Yen Sid replied. "While I could peer into the word of Walt Disney using this," he held up a pen, "I cannot enter or interact with it. Through it, I found you."

"That's Uncle Walt's Pen!" I exclaimed. I did the Disneyland hunt featuring that pen, based on the Kingdom Keeper's series, so I knew what the pen looked like.

"Indeed. This pen, given to me by Walt Disney, lets me peek into other worlds. I saw you dream your way into other actual worlds - not just worlds your dreams created - and interact with the people there. I saw you, Kana, in the real world, watching the films based on the worlds of Disney. I saw how knowledgeable you were, and how well you could play and beat some of the electronic games based on our world, known collectively to you as Kingdom Hearts. You have a strong dream self and great knowledge, which makes you the perfect candidate. Therefore, I chose you as the one for this mission, and summoned you to me."

"Wait, what mission?" I asked him. I admit that my knowledge of Disney is just about legendary. I knew about Kimba the White Lion and The Thief and the Cobbler, and how they were related to The Lion King and Aladdin (somewhat loosely for the second one). I knew about many of the TV cartoons, some of the related comics, who married Luke Skywalker, and that Mickey Mouse was drawn years before the ballpoint pen was created, contrary to the Kingdom Keeper's belief in the first pen. As for when it came to the Kingdom Hearts games, I was pretty sure I held the world record for 'Fastest time defeating Sephiroth' in Kingdom Hearts 2. It wasn't a 'no damage' record, but I only took damage when I wanted to be hit. "I don't see how all that makes me a candidate for anything, besides trivia shows."

"It is your knowledge of what was meant to be that makes you the perfect Keybearer," he told me. "You can restore World Order where the Heartless have tipped the balance and changed the future. You can also blend into the worlds more easily than other Keyblade Masters; you would know the things people of that world should know, and hence not attract as much attention to yourself. With the power of a Dreamer, you can be a great force for Light."

"Wait a minute," I told him. While I was super excited to be a Kebearer, I didn't quite understand anything he was saying. "What do you mean by 'power of a Dreamer'? Do you mean Flowmotion from Kingdom Hearts 3D's Sleeping Worlds?"

"Indeed, alongside powers other than Flowmotion. As a true Dreamer, you can create and control objects within this universe. However, because it was already defined by many, then Walt Disney, then another, it would take a lot of power to usurp control over his beings.

"But what do you mean by 'Kingdom Hearts 3D'? Is that the name of a game about this universe?" I nodded. "That is a game I haven't noticed while watching potential candidates, including yourself. Not even two hours ago, I passed Riku as a Keyblade Master, and sent him to fetch me Kairi. Tell me everything you know about what has occurred up to this point, and which game each event occurred in."

So I told him everything I knew. Whenever there was a 'Final Mix' or Re:Game, I told him what happened in that account. I started with Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep. I then launched into Kingdom Hearts. After its tale was done, I told the stories of 358/2 Days interrupted with Chain of Memories. Yen Sid was especially interested in these games, and asked many questions. I then told of Kingdom Hearts 2, Coded, and 3D. I briefly mentioned Kingdom Hearts χ, but told him I didn't have firsthand or even word-of-mouth experience with it.

He asked me for as close a quote as possible to anything Xehanort, Maleficent, Vanitas, an Organization member, or anyone else said during the games, but listened quietly to the rest of my tales. When the questions about the games I had played or watched were done, I told him about the teaser trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3, and how it had Heartless Swarms Sora could ride and the Master Keeper, Master Eraqus' Keyblade. I also told him the rumors of Marvel and Star Wars worlds being included in the game, and gave basic descriptions of those two universes.

I then told him about a couple mysteries from the Kingdom Hearts series. The main one he didn't know about was as to the creation of two certain Nobodies. In Re:Coded and KH1, we saw Kairi's body. It never became a Nobody. But after Sora released her heart, Namine and Roxas were born. Some people speculated that Sora has two Nobodies, created when he released Kairi's heart as well as his own and Ven's. Namine was born from Kairi's heart, while Roxas was born of Sora and Ven, or possibly only Ven. But if only Ven's heart made Roxas, then where is Sora's true Nobody self? And how did Sora's body get split into at least two to become Namine and Roxas, if Nobodies are born using the person's empty shell? I also told him how Sora may have Ven's keyblade, not really one of his own or Riku's, since Ven's Keyblade may be connected to Ven's heart within Sora.

After his final, clarifying questions and my theories to the mysteries were completed, Yen Sid spent a good five minutes thinking, stroking his enormous beard, eyes not truly focused on me when they were open. "I thank you for your knowledge, Kana Mooneyes. While it has made clear a few of the things the dark forces were attempting to hide, it still leaves many questions unanswered. It is unfortunate that Kingdom Hearts 3 is not due for release for a long time. But we cannot wait for it to come out, for our universe will surely move past it by that time, and your presence will not be needed anymore. I had originally brought you here to help us plan for the battle to come, using your knowledge to ensure that we win the way World Order intended. Instead, I charge you with this task. You are to define the balance of Light and Dark."

"Define it?" I asked, shocked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I will be sending you to lock worlds of strong Light so they don't fall into the Darkness. If, perhaps, the balance between Light and Darkness shifts, the χ-Blade will fail to forge, and the worlds will be safe."

"I'm not sure that will work," I told him hesitantly. "Forging it requires twenty hearts, not twenty worlds."

"That is indeed true. When I first heard the prophecy of the 7 of Light against the 13 of Darkness, I had assumed they would be individual Lights and Darkness. However, Xehanort is and has been manipulating hearts, such as his own and Ven's, to attempt the creation of substitute Darknesses.

"I fear he may try to do the same to create artificial Maidens of Light. Many of worlds have maidens whose Light can be substituted for a Princess of Heart, or merged with another to create such a being. If we spend too much of our efforts protecting the true Princesses of Heart whom we know, he may resort to using other maidens to complete his designs. It is your job to seal worlds with those maidens from his reach."

"I see your point," I had to admit. This would likely mean I was going to cover worlds not visited by Sora, and hence never meet him. But I was still game, no pun intended. "I'm in!"

"Indeed, your Heart is strong. You are up to this task." he then materialized his Keyblade. It looked a lot like the Star Seeker, but was black like Twilight, and had a straight blade that led to a silver moon and star. "In your hand, take this Key. So long as you have the markings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be," he recited, then handed it to me.

When I touched it, I felt something, some kind of connection. If I was still skeptical about if I was dreaming, this cleared it all up. I was in the dream - explaining everything - for more than an hour and could actually feel the grip, weight, and balance of this Keyblade. Both things should be impossible if this was merely a normal visual and audio, 30 minute max dream. This world - no, this whole universe - was real, and I may be able to tip the balance in the Light's favor.

The Keyblade didn't disappear after a few seconds, like when Leon or Jack held Sora's. Yen Sid, content, took it back manually and vanished it. "Congratulations Kana. You are now a potential Keybearer. I will now send you to a Sleeping World. It will serve as an initial test."

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid," I said, now considering myself his apprentice. He then materialized a passageway to the Sleeping World for me. Before entering, I turned back to him. "What is the test? What if I wake up in the middle of the test and return to my universe?"

"The test is of your capabilities as a Keybearer," Yen Sid said mysteriously. "Do not worry about yourself awakening, for your whole journey will pass before you must awaken, and only a moment will pass in the world from whence you came. " Content at these answers, I went into the Sleeping World.

* * *

I wish I can say I passed with flying colors. I wish I could say I scrapped an okay. I even wish I had at least awakened that Sleeping World. But what happened there was too horrible for me to share right now. If you want to know what happened, figure out who I am and steal my journals. I may share the story later, but even now, what happened there, and who I grew to care too much for, is too personal to share right now.

I came out of that world screaming, then burst into tears. I was broken beyond belief. My faith in my abilities was shattered. Because of my knowledge, everything went unbelievably wrong. I was in no shape to tell anyone about what happened, but Yen Sid insisted I tell it to him.

Many minutes later, I did manage to give the basics of what happened to Yen Sid. I left many holes, but he understood. "Kana Mooneyes, I am disappointed in what has occurred," Yen Sid told me. Those words would have been daggers to my heart, if my broken heart had a piece left big enough to stab. "I had hoped you understood the need for secrecy and World Order."

"I'm sorry," I told him, tears still streaming down my eyes. "I can't do this. I can't be your apprentice. Don't let me dream here again. I'm not worthy to help you and Sora. I now understand the need for secrecy, but I broke it."

"Which is why," Yen Sid said, "you are now ready." Those words shocked me. "The test was not about discovering your Keyblade, nor even unlocking its Keyhole. It was to see if you understood the need for World Order. That is why I sent you to a Sleeping World, rather than one that can be lost to the Darkness. Should you fail to learn the lesson at first, no harm would come to yourself or that world. But should you learn from either your success or your failure, then you have passed."

While those words didn't help me get over what I did, it did make me feel better about myself. I stopped crying and stood up. "You're right Master. I vow to never again disturb World Order. I'm ready to go on your mission." Gone was the naive boy who thought he could take on a universe and save everyone. I had learned my lesson through loss and humility.

"You are indeed ready mentally. However, I can't send you out unless you have discovered your Keyblade. Have you done so?" Yen Sid questioned me.

"Yes I have!" I told him. To prove it, I summoned both my blades. They were similar to shorter, thinner versions of the Kingdom Keeper and Kingdom Keeper D. Their smaller size made them easier to wield single-handed, but there was still room on the hilt for two hands. But where the Kingdom Keepers had inverted Gold and Silver, each of my Keyblades was all Gold or all Silver. The Rainguards on them were Brown for the Gold and Green for the Silver, and the grips were a bright White and Tan respectively.

"I call them Truth Keeper," I lifted up the Silver one, "and Ideal Keeper," showing off the Golden blade.

"Interesting names," Yen Sid told me. "Their form and name are similar to the Kingdom Keepers. But where did you come up with the first word in their names?"

"Pokemon Black and White, as well as the Yu-Gi-Oh! Monsters Sun Dragon Inti and Moon Dragon Quilla," I answered. "Inti and Quilla's abilities are as different as the Sun and the Moon. Yet together, they balance and support each other, bringing the other back to life.

"Zekrom is a black dragon of Ideals. Like him, Darkness feeds off your ideals, turning them into your personal view of a better world, and inspiring you to change the current world to that image. This isn't necessarily evil; there are many good men who's ideals changed the world for the better slowly or through quick revolutions.

"Reshiram is a white dragon of Truth. Light is the truth of what is and was. It says the way things are is good, or the way things were was good. However, it can also blind people to another, possibly better future. It limits change, growth, and evolution. A caterpillar doesn't say 'My life is good, I'm a caterpillar, a caterpillar is how I'll stay forever'. He seeks an ideal, better life as a butterfly.

"To prevent the Light from blinding people, it must be checked by the ideals Darkness brings. But Darkness must be checked by Light, to make sure that the ideas can become Truth, and are either selfless or truly for the good of all people."

"Now I know you are ready, Kana," Yen Sid told me, a smile on his face. "While many know Light and Darkness cannot exist without the other, few have figured out a definite explanation as to why that is. You, young Mooneyes, have discovered one of those secrets, and explained it in a relatively simple manner." He then stood up and gave me a deep bow, much to my shock. "I would name you Keyblade Master, if only you had more experience wielding your blades as a warrior. To earn that title, you must show me your strength of both body and will, by protecting the numerous worlds."

"I understand Master, and thanks for the praise," I gave him a bow in return. "But I fear that I'll get too attached to a world again, and repeat the same mistakes as before. Can you send me to a world where I can break World Order? Bring out companions for my journey? If I had a companion, I may not make as strong a tie with the people at each world and... repeat what just occurred."

Yen Sid stroked his beard a few times, thinking it over. "You may. However, as far as what you know from your world, and what you see during your travels, you cannot bring a companion who has an unfinished fate. They must either be about to die and you save them, or they, in another way, are done within that world."

"I understand," I told him. We then spent the next few minutes thinking over who my companions, should I have more than one, could be. But in that first half hour, there were no warrior people in Disney that were: beings of Light, from worlds unseen by Xehanort, I knew I could get along well with, had completed fates, and I could convince to come on my quest and leave their home worlds.

So I turned my thoughts to worlds outside of Disney, and found a few worlds that could work. But first, I had to double-check if he could send me to said worlds. "Yen Sid, can you send me to a world outside of Disney? I have a few ideas as to my companions."

Yen Sid took awhile to figure that out. "Indeed I can. However, they must come willingly, and have completed their destinies. Also, the longer you spend there, with the portal open between both worlds, the more likely Heartless are to find the bridge and plague that universe. Also, your Keyblades are of this universe. While you cannot summon them in your original world which created them, you can summon them while in the world of your companion. But as long as they are there with you, they will create another rift for the Heartless to uncover. Regardless of this, you can still use any magic you learned without the need of channeling them through your Keyblade. Now that you know all of this, will you take the risk?"

"Yes," I told him without a second thought. Without a word, he took Uncle Walt's Pen, and opened the tome on his desk. Slowly, yet meticulously, he wrote on a single page.

"Take the pen," Yen Sid instructed me, waving his hand so that Uncle Walt's pen and his big book floated onto my lap, "and draw a portal to that world. It will become dormant once you enter the world, but will reawaken to let yourself and up to two others through. To awaken the portal, use one of your Keyblades. You may awaken the portal multiple times, but it will vanish after yourself or three others pass through, so make sure your companions are the first to enter and you are last."

Pen in hand, I looked at the book. The right page had a large rectangle made out of weird text; I was supposed to draw within it. On the left page, I saw myself, sleeping, with different text surrounding me. I knew this was how he anchored myself to this world, and knew what I had to do. I had to draw my portal, an image of that world from my memory. After thinking for a few minutes, I knew which world I wanted to search for my companion or two, should they be willing.

I had to draw slowly, since I was a bad artist. But, after a long time, I finished it. It wasn't perfect, but the pen seemed to understand where I wanted. In the background, a busy city loomed. In the foreground, across a body of water to the city, I drew a small island, made of one hill. Atop the island, I drew a huge tower shaped like a T.

When I finished, my picture glowed and a portal appeared on a blank spot on the wall. Before I approached it, Yen Sid created an enchanted compass for me. "This compass will direct you to warriors about to die, or whose destinies are completed. If you see it glow a bright silver and point to a person, you may ask him to join you as a companion. Should it glow gold instead, then that person may also receive his own Keyblade upon their arrival in this world. Also, do not worry about the time that passes by; months in that world will seem but minutes here."

"Thanks, Master Yen Sid," I told him. But while I walked through, I heard Yen Sid gasp in exclamation and shout something after me, "Seal that world's Keyhole! Trigon and Mal..." However, the last of his words were lost in the portal as I entered Jump City, ready to find my companion.

However, what I managed to hear worried me. Do all worlds, not just those 'compiled' by Disney and Square Enix, have a Keyhole? What did Trigon and Maleficent have? Did they meet before? Were they working together now? That last thought sent shivers down my spine; Trigon possibly married to Maleficent? If they were together, would I have to deal with Heartless, Fire Demons, Maleficent, and Trigon, all at the same time?! I'd have to call for backup, even with the Teen Titans there!

When my eyes adjusted from the bright portal to the nighttime Jump City, I knew I arrived far earlier than I wanted. I'd have to go through three entire seasons to get the two I thought could come, and almost every episode to potentially get the other one I thought may come. Then again, if I knew them from the beginning, it may be easier for me to befriend them and convince them to say yes. Also, at least the portal wasn't in an easy place to forget; it was right next to the Pizza joint.


	2. Go!

_I ended up staying in the World of the Teen Titans for a very long time. I had some fun times, some major defeats, and a couple humiliating scenes I don't want made public. So I'll just highlight some 'episodes' where I interacted with both people I thought would become my companions and those who actually became my companions._

* * *

When I stepped out of the portal, it was pretty obvious I arrived too soon. It was night, and the streets were mostly clear. There was a big guy in a hood a ways away, but I knew he wasn't the reason why the roads were empty.

The real reason was a redhead girl, forearms bound, trashing the neighborhood. Cars, streetlights, trash bins, even the street, nothing escaped her rampage. She then seemed to calm down for a few seconds, or merely stopped for a breath, before turning to the Pizza place. She then started to attack the pillar holding up the balcony. "Zop! Yark! Mesnef!" she cried with each hit. The meaning wasn't very clear, but it was either swearing or something having to do with getting the cuffs off.

As much as I wanted not to be on the receiving end of one of those blows, I saw the screaming people on the balcony that was supported by the now failing pillar. "Hey!" I shouted to her. She heard me, quickly turned, and glared at me, eyes aglow. I then tapped my chest twice with my pointer finger. "Human," I told her softly, then pointed at the balcony, which had stopped crumbling and somewhat stabilized.

I was trying to alert her to the lives she was endangering, but she must have mistook one my gestures or words for aggression. She started running right at me, arms over her left shoulder to take a swing. I planned to sidestep to my left, dodge roll under or before her swing, then try again with the second part of my message. If she understood what I meant to say, she may calm down and trust me a little more.

I was lucky I chose to go left, because a familiar Birdarang hit her crown and turned her to my right. As she recovered from the sneak attack, I got up from the roll and turned to the source. Sure enough, the walking Traffic Light had arrived, but a little later than I expected. "I had it covered!" I yelled at him.

"Didn't look like it from here," Robin replied. He might have said more, but the redhead charged at him, cuffs flailing. Robin, cool as a cucumber, jumped, rolled, dodged, and weaved between her strikes. While they were distracted, I jumped to the top of the balcony and helped everyone get out of danger.

After she started to tire, Robin flipped over her, dropped a smoke bomb, then charged in at an angle. He may have gotten her with that move, but the battle wasn't supposed to flow or end that way. So I jumped down to the street, grabbed two pieces of a streetlight the girl had broken, and dashed between them. (I would have used my Keyblades, but I was going to stay for a long time, and didn't want to risk another hole into this universe yet). "Hey you two; cut it out!" I yelled, closing the distance.

Spotting the redhead through the smoke wasn't hard; her eyes were still glowing. She locked onto my voice and turned. While doing so, she spotted Robin through the dust. Both of them were preparing to swing; Robin with his Bo staff and the redhead with her cuffs. As I landed between them, I lifted both pieces of the streetlamp to intercept the blows, hoping to stop the fighting. Robin's attack hit first, then came the powerhouse a split second later.

You know how in movies and some games, a cool warrior steps between two opposing attacks and either defends or deflects them? If you need an example, Axle does it between Xion and Roxas in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days; Day 352, and Lee between Kotetsu and Sasuke in Naruto episode 21. Don't try it in real life, it can turn out like in the Mewtwo Pokemon movie. What can really happen is this: both attacks hit hard, turned me into a streetlight pancake, spun me around, and sent me flying.

Robin may have got some of the impact through me, but I got the most of it. Suffice it to say, I was out of the fight for awhile, too disoriented to cast a proper Cure. I watched as Beast Boy, then the hooded teen, came along to help. I watched as the manacles were removed from her hands, and green burst of energy strike everywhere haphazardly while the heroes scurried for cover. But I noticed none of the energy hit anywhere near me as I struggled to get up. I likely got her attention in a good way.

Once I was recovered enough to cast a Cure, the girl had stopped firing. I took a chance and started walking towards her. She turned around and glared, eyes and hands still glowing, but she didn't stop me. The other heroes then sprung into action, since she was distracted by me and her back was turned.

But before they could make it halfway to her, a large black astral raven appeared, halting their charge. "Maybe... that guy has the right idea. Fighting may not be needed to stop her," the blue cloaked caster said, stepping out of an alley. "Let him try."

I would have given her my attention, in order to thank her, but the manacled girl was the one who needed it most. Not to mention, if I started talking to her aggressors, she may take it the wrong way. So I continued to approach her, hands behind my head and eyes on her feet in a huge effort to show her I meant no harm or deceit. When I was about fifteen feet away, she raised her hands and said one word. "Gokta!" I didn't understand it, but the basic message was clear. 'Stop', 'no', 'stay', 'back', 'away'.

So I circled around her at that same distance, placing myself between her and the heroes, then sat down. The girl gazed at me, but didn't change her stance. "Sir, what's he doing?" Beast Boy asked Robin.

"Trying to solve this as carefully as I can," I told him in a soft voice, head barely turned to him. "Sit down where you stand, all of you." To my surprise, I didn't hear any resistance, even from Robin, as they sat on the street. But I kept my gaze on the girl I was trying to pacify. I put a hand on my chest, "Kana." I then gestured to the boy behind me, to my right, "Robin."

I gestured to the green boy near Robin. Before I could name him, he understood what was happening. "Beast Boy sir!" he yelled out with a fist pump.

Next was the hooded guy. "... Cyborg," he said, regretfully.

I then pointed out the last person behind me. "Raven," she said in monotone, just loud enough to be heard by the other heroes and her.

I then gestured to the redhead. To my relief, she didn't take it as an attack. It took her a few seconds, but she guessed what I wanted. "Koriand'r."

I knew that name, but had to play the part of an ignorant guy who had some basic knowledge. "Cory-an-dur?" I double-checked her name's pronunciation. She gave a grunt, which I took for yes. After making a show of thinking, I gestured to the sky. "Kori? Kori? Kori?" I asked, pointing out the stars. She grunted again. I then placed my hands together and cast Fire. A useful trick for cold nights that I learned in the Sleeping World, a warm fire appeared between them before I released the spell. "And'r?" Another yes grunt. "Tamaran?" I tried. She grunted, with a bit of a smile on her face.

I then started to scoot forward, never uncrossing my legs to stand. "Gokta buhovna," she said. But this time, her voice was different. It was still hard, but had much less of an edge. Using a word I might have understood, she conveyed her true meaning in her tone. 'Don't try anything,' her voice meant this time.

She almost allowed me to get close enough to touch her before telling me to stop. "Cuffs," I said, moving my arms together, then pointing to her restraints. She lowered them to me slowly, and stopped almost within reach of grabbing. "Lock," I said, pointing it out. I then turned to the group behind me. "Do any of you have a lock pick?" I asked, slowing down the last two words so Koriand'r may understand.

"I do. But why do you want to release her?" Robin asked me. "She's been imprisoned, she might be a dangerous criminal."

"Because I'm trying to make peace," I answered. "You led the attacks on her, so you undoing the lock will be a peace offering between Earth and her. I know a little about the Tamaranians, they aren't a criminal people. Also, I don't know how to use a lock pick." And there's also Mar'i Grayson, I added in my head, but I can't reveal that. "Pull it out and show it to her before approaching. Don't get up, walk on your knees to approach her."

To my surprise, he obeyed. At first, Koriand'r was jumpy when Robin pulled out his equipment. "Lock. Lock pick," I explained, pointing out each item. Luckily, she understood and calmed down. Eager but hiding it, she walked to Robin to get the cuffs off sooner.

Then came the scene I didn't want to break. Robin undid the manacles, and she kissed him in return. Robin thought it was a show of gratitude or affection, but I knew it was a simple lingual imprinting. Unlike in the episode, she stepped back rather than shove him down. I guess I made too good of an impression on her, and I didn't really like what it could imply. I didn't plan on bringing Koriand'r along on my journey, because she has to be Mar'i's mother. Either that, or Robin was low enough to the ground already for her tastes. "If you wish to remain alive, you will leave me alone!" she announced before flying off.

That statement stunned the other heroes. I knew it was actually a warning about those after her, but the others didn't yet understand the supposed threat. "Sooooo..." Beast Boy began, "we made a good team, didn't we?"

"Good team?" Cyborg spoke up. "Look around us. She trashed the whole block!"

"But the girl's gone," Beast Boy started counting off what they accomplished, "nothing was seriously damaged here, and the rest of the city's safe. Mission accomplished, team leader sir!" He turned to Robin in salute.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Robin growled at him, then turned away. "And I'm on no team." He then started to walk off on his own. Nobody made a move to join him.

"Are you looking for her?" Raven asked Robin.

"I still don't know if she's a threat, and she's now unbound," Robin said, never stopping his march after Koriand'r. "If Kana's wrong, I'll be there to stop her."

"Or he'd like another kiss," Cyborg muttered, then started to walk away.

"Hey dude!" Beast Boy called out after him, "Where you going? Want to get a pizza? Do you play video games?" The chatterbox was stopped when Beast Boy's mouth ran into Cyborg's unmentionable. However, the impact sounded more metallic than face to skin. Cyborg took his hood of, showing why it sounded metallic. Over half of his head was hardware. "Didn't you hear me earlier? I'm a Cyborg! Part human, part robotic monster!" He was obviously trying to scare the annoying gnat away, but it didn't work. Instead, it made Beast Boy fawn over him and launched a new set of questions about Cyborg.

As they were talking, Raven started to walk off as well. "Where are you going?" I asked, moving to walk beside her. She stopped, apparently listening. "Beast Boy is right; we did do a good job. Why don't you stay?"

"If you knew what I really am, you wouldn't want me around," Raven told me, turning away from me. But I did know. She was the offspring of human and demon, a twisted version of a Percy Jackson demigod. Her dark powers were tied to emotion; if she grew to care too much, she'll lose control. She was fated to summon her father and destroy the world.

But I also was secretly hoping she'd be one of my companions on my Keyblade journey. As the daughter of a multi-dimensional demon, she could likely be allowed to join me as soon as the prophecy about her and her father were fulfilled. Also, her dark powers may allow herself, myself, and another to travel the Corridors of Darkness between worlds safely. As for her future beyond the Titans, she didn't have a child or husband I knew about, she had a few storylines where her evil half took over, and almost every future ended grimly. After either the Prophecy or the Brotherhood of Evil, she could very well qualify to break World Order.

"I don't care who you were," I told her, resting my hand on her shoulder. "I care about who you want to become." I then walked around her, to look at her face to face. "I haven't seen your powers, aside from what looked like astral projection. But you didn't use them to fight, like the other so called heroes did. You saw what I did, a person who needed help. That's why I trust you more than them, and want you to stay."

Raven's eyes betrayed her thoughts, even though she was burying her emotions well. She heard the truth and care in my voice, but didn't know if I meant it. (I'll admit, I was being overly friendly. But hey, true friendship has to start somehow). She would have said something, but someone else spoke up. "DUDE!" Beast Boy alerted everyone, even the distant Robin, to a humongous spaceship. Something that looked like a missile was fired from it, struck what would become Titan Island, and revealed itself as a huge hologram generator.

"People of Earth," a holographic scaly winged lizard-man said, "we have come to recover a dangerous escaped prisoner. Do not interfere with our search, and the city will only sustain minimal damage. But any who are found to be harboring her, will be destroyed." The projection disappeared, and a huge army of aliens appeared from the sides of the missile.

"That's one ugly bunch of lizards," Cyborg commented.

"Yeah. Scary too," Beast Boy added on.

"They warned against interference," Raven told the heroes present. She then looked at me, most likely for guidance. _So far so good_, I thought to myself. _If this friendship develops well, it'd be easy to invite her to Kingdom Hearts._

But I didn't take the lead. Robin was to be the leader, so I looked to him. "If you find her, you may get caught in the two group's crossfire."

Robin looked back, a small grin on his face. "I suppose... a little backup would be nice. For now."

As the lizard men destroyed the city carefully, we went into a side ally to avoid detection. "Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy, figure out where she is," Robin commanded. Beast Boy went dog, Cyborg checked his forearm, and Raven just said she could sense her nearby. "Kana, do you know those aliens as well?" Robin asked me.

"Koriand'r was the first alien species I ever met in person," I admitted. "These guys... I'm not sure, but those may be the Gordanians, a species that attacked Tamaran, her planet. She could be the prisoner of war if my hunch is right."

"Prisoners of war aren't always innocent Kana," Robin told me.

"I got her scent!" Beast Boy announced, flitting between human and bloodhound. He then lead us, to my surprise, to a Mexican restaurant where Koriand'r was gorging herself on chips, guacamole, and salsa. "You know, the chips taste better when eaten with the salsa or guac," he let her know.

Such an innocent way of saying 'hello, we're here' shouldn't have raised alarms. Nevertheless, she turned around with eyes and hands ablaze, ready to attack. Robin quickly showed a diplomatic side. "It's okay. We're friends." Well, it felt good that he trusted me when I called her innocent, and it made Koriand'r lowered her still energy-filled hands.

"Why do you call me friend? For what purpose did you free me? What is it you desire from me in return for my release?"

"Nothing! We... were... just being nice," Robin struggled with an answer.

"Nice..." she said, testing the word in her mouth. "We have no similar word in the language of Tamaran."

"Do you have selfish?" I asked her, "How about cruel or mean? Nice is their opposite. We did it for nothing, because we cared, or at least were concerned, for you." That explanation turned her hands off, but her eyes showed she still was wary.

"Why did that alien leader take you prisoner?" Robin asked, taking the lead and showing a part of his mentor's interrogation skills.

"Not as a prisoner..." Koriand'r said. Her eyes now lost their glow and appeared sad. "Prize, I think the word from your language is." This made Beast Boy gasp. "The Gordanians were to deliver me to the Citadel, where I would serve as slave to its people."

"And the Citadel are?" Raven asked.

"An alien empire," I told them. "The Gordanians serve them. They conquer worlds and transport slaves and prisoners to the Citadel, and Tamaran was one the the worlds the Gordanians attacked and ravaged. That's about everything I know about the three alien cultures."

"You knowledge is accurate for one who has not left his planet," Koriand'r said. I was nervous that she noticed. My knowledge was of things that happened within the past five years. An Earth-bound human shouldn't know about that; a mistake on my part.

She may have questioned me more, but an explosion blindsided us. The Gordanians had found her, and commanded her arrest. "Not if we have something to say about it," Robin challenged them. The future Teen Titan members mowed through them like blades through a field of wheat. Me? Well, I didn't summon my Keyblades yet, but my magic was as good as ever. I fired off some Fire and Thunder spells, but switched to Blizzard since reptiles are cold-blooded. However, that hunch was wrong. They seemed immune to Ice, and I got pinned by two Gordanians before Robin rescued me. "Got it covered?" He asked with a smile.

I could tell he was making a rare Robin-to-companion joke and smiled back. "Got an extra Bo Staff?" I asked. Robin extended one and tossed it to me. The familiar weapon from my karate classes made me almost as dangerous as Robin when I used it and my elemental magic. All those years, and a third degree Black Belt, finally came in handy.

After awhile, I combo'd with Raven. Comfortable with it, she and I set up a combat system. She'd cover long range and I'd watch her back on mid to short range. Once, a Gordanian spear was thrown at her, and I easily deflected it with a well-aimed Blizzard. (Note to self: see if Blizzard can be used defensively in the games). Alerted to what happened behind her by the clang, she returned the spear to its owner, pointy end first.

All too soon, the scouts were sent packing. We fought well; the only casualty among us was me being pinned, but it didn't hurt. "I believe your word for my intention is gratitude," Koriand'r checked with us.

"That's right. A shorter way to express it is 'Thank you'," I told her.

"Awww man!" Cyborg exclaimed. "My suit's now tatters!"

"But you look so much cooler without it!" Beast Boy complimented him.

"Yeah sure, like a goofy mask is any better," Cyborg retorted.

"But my mask is cool!" Beast Boy tried to confirm. "Isn't it? ... Raven? ... Kana?" We all shook our heads no. "But... what about my secret identity?"

"You have green skin, and big pointed ears," Raven reminded him. Reminded that his secret identity wasn't a real part of his life, Beast Boy took off the mask, exposing messy green hair.

"That's five heroes without masks," I noted. "The only one left to remove is on Robin."

"**_T_h_e_ m_a_s_k_ s_t_a_y_s_!_**" Robin roared at us. Seeing his 'evil oversized face' with 'Batglare', even I promised not to force it off him. Besides, if Young Justice was accurate, I knew his eye color anyway. "We can't lose vigilance yet," he continued. "Since we resisted his forces, their leader..."

"... Trogaar," Koriand'r named the leader for him before continuing, "will strike at the city in revenge."

To prove her right, the hologram system went back online. "People of Earth, you are fools. You were warned against aiding the prisoner, and yet five of your people aided her. Your rebellion shall be punished. The city will be... destroyed."

The holograph vanished, and the huge spaceship turned around, aiming at Jump City. "Are they going to ram us?" Beast Boy asked.

The front of the ship then started to glow. "Nope," I stated the obvious, "we're going to get blasted."

"Go team," Cyborg said regretfully.

"The fault belongs to you!" Koriand'r turned to Robin. "I had commanded you to leave the presence of mine, but you failed to obey and continued the being of nice!"

"My fault?" Robin yelled back. "You wrecked the city, attacked me, blasted me, kissed me, then you forget that they have a huge cannon they could wipe the city out with?"

"Robin! Koriand'r!" I yelled over their din. "I don't care who started it, but I do care about who fixes it. So are we going to bicker between each other, or stop the Gordanians from capturing Koriand'r and blowing this city apart?"

My outburst silenced everyone there. "Kana's right," Robin said. "We all started this mess, so we'll work together to get out of it." Everyone then nodded their approval to Robin. "Let's save this city!" He cried, ready to lead us into battle. "First things first, can anyone get all of us into the ship without detection?"

"... I haven't done it with this many people before, but I can try," Raven answered before covering us in her power. Have you ever walked through half swamp, half sewage water, overflowing with dead scaly fish and slimy eels, while a freaky foreign hypnosis-like feeling convinces you it feels good and you should stay forever? Then you know what it felt like to travel by Raven's powers when she's overloaded and having a hard time concentrating. I was somewhat used to the feeling of Darkness, but Beast Boy was completely creeped out.

As Robin led the others forward, Cyborg, Raven, and myself stayed behind. "What's the matter?" I prompted her.

"You saw how Beast Boy reacted," Raven said. "He fears my powers. I don't fit in with you guys."

"He's green with fleas, I'm half metal, and she's from outer space," Cyborg reminded Raven.

"Robin's a sidekick who barely went hero and has no superpowers, and I have my own secrets, abandoned past life, and burdens," I told her. "Among all of us misfits, you fit in just fine." Comforted, Raven joined the others. I just hope I worded it right and made Raven believe our lives were similar. If she thought that, she may be more open towards me. Because actually, her fate was similar to my Dream World experience.

By the time we caught up, Robin was giving his apology to Koriand'r. "Hey, what about me?" I reminded them. "I almost got slammed for pointing out the people in danger on the balcony, got knocked silly trying to stop you two's fighting, and was one of the two people who were only trying to be peace-making this entire night."

"Then I owe you and Raven apology, as well as the thanks," Koriand'r said remorsefully and humbly.

"... Good work back there Kana, Raven," Robin admitted with a half smile.

He may not have said the words, but considering who said them, it was a close enough equivalent for me. "I forgive both of you," I told them, "and thank you for working together now."

"Again, all of you are being the nice," Koriand'r pointed out. "On my world, only my k'norfka has shown me such... kindness."

"Well, here on this world, we do things differently," Robin told her with a smile. This made Koriand'r blush, and I regrettably didn't have a camera on me. I'd have to get one as soon as this mission's over.

"Guys?" Beast Boy asked. Koriand'r suddenly looked terrified, like she was afraid somebody had seen her soft side. "I think they saw us!" Beast Boy continued, pointing out the Gordanians that surrounded us.

"Oh gee," I teased with a heavy amount of sarcasm, "I'm not so sure we were discovered. What makes you think that?" A couple Gordanian growls as they charged 'convinced' me. However, these guys were even weaker than the scouts, and we handled them easily. I lead the fight by casting Balloon around us, and the small explosions made our attackers flinch. This gave us the opening advantage and a little smoke cover. During the fight, Koriand'r told me that they were from a cold climate, and therefore reacted better to Fire spells than Ice. I didn't dare use Lightning, since we were in a closed metal space.

Soon, we found the bridge. We could tell because of the big door and we could hear a voice from within. "This will teach the Earth Scum that it takes more than six young kids to defy me, Lord Trogaar!"

Deciding on a grand entrance, Robin blew up the door and announced our presence. "We're not just six heroes. Together we are one team." However, with the element of surprise gone, the Gordanians attacked. Robin led us into the fight, confident these guys would be just as easy as the guards in the hallway.

However, for supposed desk job workers, these guys were skilled and had some intelligence. While two or three would occupy us, another would attack from behind or above. Beast Boy was the first to take a hit. A surprise attack from behind sent him flying into the opposite wall. Raven protected him while he recovered, and Robin tackled their oppressor from behind, pulling him away. However, another charged at Robin, still perched on his opponent. I covered Robin's back by using my Bo staff as a pole vault, kicking the advancing alien hard in the head. That knocked him off course, and I helped Robin by tripping the Gordanian he was riding.

Soon, only the leader, Trogaar, was left standing. I could tell it was him because he had bigger fish-fin ornamentation on his helmet. But Robin didn't notice the difference in skill until he was thrown into a wall, head first. "Robin!" Koriand'r shouted. Her care for Robin spiked her anger at Trogaar, releasing a righteous fury of green energy balls. However, Trogaar had resilient skin. So he walked through the attacks, grabbed her, then proceeded to slam her into the ground over and over. Cyborg went to her rescue, and the duo attacked together with punches. To help, I sweep kicked the behinds of his knees to trip him. However, my blow wasn't strong enough to make him even flinch. His tail sent me flying, then his counterattack winded Koriand'r and Cyborg. We all ended up next to Robin.

"Can you convert your sonic sensor into a sonic weapon?" Robin asked Cyborg as all four of us got up.

"I can try," Cyborg said. "But I'll need time."

"Stop!" I tried, but nothing happened. "Haste! Slow?" Oh dear, I thought, not all the spells from the Dream World carried over with me. "I guess time is something we'll have to earn the hard way," I noted. The guards had recovered, and were in formation behind their leader. I quickly cast a Cure on myself, Cyborg, and Robin, which used up all of my magic reserves. It'd take a minute or two to recharge.

"Stay away from **my friends!**" Raven growled out, supporting Beast Boy. "Azarath, Mentrion, Zinthos!" Her black energy took control of the Gordanian's various weapons and buried them into various computers around the room. The resulting explosion knocked out the Gordanians and made the ship lose altitude. Raven also used her energy to shield us, but the dual effort left her almost drained, like I was.

Unfortunately, her attack only mildly hurt Trogaar. He got back up and extended his claws. "That stunt may have saved your city," he spoke, slowly approaching her, "but will it save you?"

But I knew what happened to villains who wasted time monologuing. To his surprise, a blue blast of condensed audio energy struck him from behind, knocking him out. The blast came from Cyborg's barely finished Sonic Cannon. "Alright, I'm only going to say this once," Cyborg announced softly. "Boo-yah!"

I would have laughed at the first part of his statement, but I felt the spacecraft shift. "Uh, guys," I called to everyone. "The ship is sinking." With the engines killed, the ship had fallen into the water and was slowing submerging. As the sun rose, Koriand'r, Beast Boy, and Raven flew Robin, Cyborg, and myself, respectively, out to dry ground. We all landed on the island and gazed at the sunrise, which was a beautiful background for all of Jump City.

"Somebody should build a house out here," Cyborg commented.

"Why not a hero base?" I asked. "We did a great job last night. Why can't we stay a team?"

"That sounds good," Beast Boy agreed. "If you like lots of sunshine, a great beach..." he said, elbowing Raven.

"You know..." Raven started, the hints of a smile on her face.

"... You're right!" I finished for her. I knew the grief Beast Boy would give her over jokes, and figured this was safe enough a change. "Let's stay! We could build a base on the top of the hill. No wait, a Tower!"

"Guys..." a familiar voice said. We all turned around to see our space friend. She had removed the metal bands on her body, and change her color scheme to royal purple. "Do I look... nice?"

"Yes, Carrie... how do you say your name?" Robin said, struggling with the foreign word.

"In your language, it would be Star... Fire," Koriand'r, now called Starfire, told him.

"Oh! So that's what Kana was doing!" Beast Boy exclaimed, realizing what I was semi-pantomiming a few hours ago after she told us her name. "Wait... isn't Kana a girl's name?"

"No!" I yelled at him. "It's was originally a boy's name! The name of a famous Demigod of Hawaiian legend! He rescued his mother the moon goddess from the Molokai chief, and restored the sun when it was taken to the Underworld!"

The rest of the team laughed at my name for a little bit when Beast Boy asked, but calmed down quickly. Starfire then continued with what she was saying before we interrupted her. "I thank you for your help in my rescue. I wish, with your permission, to remain here, on Earth. With the people who are both strange and kind," she said, gazing at Robin.

Everyone welcomed her warmly, then Cyborg and Robin started working on something for a minute. When they finished, Robin gave handed out communication devices. "If you guys are in trouble, give me a call," Robin said, turning away from the group.

"Wait a sec!" I called after him. "What about our plans for the future? What about becoming a formal team?"

"Sorry Kana," Robin said, "but I have to go solo... to ask Batman for the needed funds."

After a crushing hug by myself, Beast Boy, and Starfire, Robin left for Gotham. True to his word, he came back with the funds and a construction crew. While we waited, Robin made me a few Bo staffs and two dual swords. A few months later, we had a proper base which we called Titan Tower.

During this time, I managed to properly befriend the team. While I wasn't as nerdy or starved, I'd eat and play with Beast Boy and Cyborg. Robin made me a Bo Staff that had small teeth near both tips. Starfire taught me more of her language while I taught her basic Earth cooking. However, I regret that now, since she tries to combine recipe's from both planets. We'll leave it like this: I don't mind what's inside an Earth Hot Dog anymore. I'd also say I had a good friendship with Raven; I was the only one Raven was tolerant about being in her room!

The first few months, I was checking Yen Sid's compass often, to see if Raven or another was registering. However, the needle remained motionless and dull. I wasn't worried; Raven and other potential companions wouldn't show up for awhile. Once we moved into the Tower, I put it in the back of my drawers, determined not to let it get me down.

* * *

**What do you think so far?**

**I decided on doing this companion exploration now because there are many worlds I'd like to use, but no knowledge of which worlds are available for me to explore. Once we get a world list, things may move on from there.**

**AnonymousGX**


	3. Sisters

**4000 words before adding Author stuff? This may be the biggest project of mine! Even bigger than Sage Mode and Magic!**

**I noticed this story doesn't have as many readers as I hoped... This is my second original story (I thought of it before Naruto GX), and want this to be a success.**

* * *

It was a mostly quiet morning in Titan Tower. Cyborg was chef this morning, and had out some good smelling breakfast omelettes. Raven and I were eating. Starfire was still in her room. Two people, however, were arguing more than eating.

"Come on Robin!" Beast Boy pleaded. "This only happens once a year!" What got him worked up was the carnival. While the boardwalk always had something to do, the traveling carnival was back in town. Beast Boy was raring to go, but the team leader...

"For the last time," Robin almost growled, "we are a team of superheroes. We don't just goof around when the city could be threatened."

"Could be threatened by what?" Starfire asked, entering the room. While she asked, she headed for Cyborg, who got a plate ready for her.

"By boredom!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "The carnival has arrived, and will only be here for one weekend! This is our chance to have some fun, eat sweets, play real boardwalk games, ride the ferris wheel..." Beast Boy counted out each thing on his hand.

"What is this wheel of ferris?" Starfire asked, sitting between Robin and Beast Boy.

"Robin, would you like to show her?" I spoke up. "There's lots of things you two can do there..."

Robin thought about it, a hint of a smile on his face. "I suppose, we could go there after dark."

"ALRIGHT!" Beast Boy cheered. "No crowd, no lines, no trouble! Where'd I put my money?"

"Dude, you used it all to buy Mega-Monkeys 3," Cyborg reminded him.

"Oh yeah..." Beast Boy mused, "Mind loaning me some money?"

"No way man, not after what you did the last time you asked for a loan!" Cyborg almost yelled.

Beast Boy thought for a minute. "Hmmm. OK, if you're chicken."

"Say wha?" Cyborg responded.

"I was going to challenge you to a boardwalk competition. But since you're too afraid to challenge me..."

"Who said I was afraid?!" Cyborg almost yelled. "I can beat you in no time flat!"

"A macho test with rigged kids games," Raven commented, "that will make you seem manly..."

Both Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at her, then turned to each other. Beast Boy spoke first. "Whoever wins Raven's favorite prize wins!"

"You're on!" Cyborg agreed, shaking Beast Boy's hand. "Let me get my wallet!"

Raven and I both rolled our eyes at their antics. Our night out was 12 hours away, and they were preparing like it was in 10 minutes. Luckily for us, there was no emergency that day. We had an almost lazy day until sundown.

Robin quickly took Starfire and separated from the group. Cyborg and Beast Boy wanted to drag Raven, their 'judge', with them. Raven, however, was against it. Luckily for her, I convinced them that a blind pick would be a fair win, and therefore Raven shouldn't see who wins what. So I took her with me. First, we found a life-size chess role-play, where carnival actors were the pieces, in character, and we were the Kings. I'll just say I lost against her. After that, we went over to the spooky ride.

While on that ride, I thought it would be a good time to talk to her. "You know, you didn't have to treat them so badly. All they wanted was to have fun with you."

"I'm not into... fun," Raven answered.

"You don't have to be. I'm not good at chess, but I still played because I knew that was something you liked."

"Not good?" Raven sarcastically asked.

"I think the reason you're like this isn't because you want to be," that got her attention. "You want to be normal, you want to belong. But your powers are tied to your emotion. If you let yourself have fun, you're afraid of your powers coming loose and ruining everything."

That got her thinking. "What if that is it?" Raven asked. "What could I do about it?"

"I noticed a couple times where you let some emotion show," I told her. "Nothing bad happened then. Maybe, you can figure out why."

"I don't know..." Raven admitted.

"I trust you. I know you can do it," I would have continued talking to her, but the most shocking part of the ride occurred. Starfire flew through the scene, followed by a 4-tentacled probe. I admit, I jumped; I forgot film timing for things like this.

We raced outside after them, and joined the rest of the Titans. "I got a good look when it flew by," I told them, "That thing is electrical, likely a scout or searcher."

"We figured. It's searching for Starfire," Robin answered. As the bot flew past, Robin jumped onboard, quickly disabling the machine. Rather than simply powering down, however, it decided to self-destruct, adding to the grand finale of the firework show.

Beast Boy and Cyborg enjoyed the show, then wanted to show Raven where they left their prizes. However, the place was trashed; Starfire and the robot had smashed through, destroying the gifts. Reluctantly, we all went back to Titan Tower.

Beast Boy was the most bummed member of the team. "After all that begging, we spend an hour at the Carnival, get attacked by a grabby robot, trash the docks, lose our prizes, and have to go home early?! Can this night get any weirder?"

"Don't tell me you just said that out loud," I moaned. Sure enough, when the elevator doors opened, something was waiting for us. It was slender, dark, covered in metal, and had purple eyes.

"Starfire didn't notice at first, still very thankful for her rescue. "My my, I see you can't changed a bit," the dark double got her attention. "Little Starfire always needed to be rescued by me." A squeal of 'sister' later, Starfire and the new girl were hugging. "Here little sister, I brought you something."

Starfire was then presented with an emerald necklace. Starfire was in awe of her new jewlery, then noticed our stares. "The pardons, friends. I must introduce! This is Blackfire, my big sister! Blackfire, these are..."

"You already told me everything in your letters," Blackfire pushed past Starfire. "Lets see, Cyborg! How're you doing?" She asked, hand extended. Cyborg learned the hard way how strong she was, and blushed.

"... Beast Boy! You're looking good!" She complimented.

"Right Black at 'cha!" Beast Boy responded, trying to play it off as cool.

"Hahaha! That was funny!" Blackfire laughed.

Beast Boy started blushing too, then pointed out what Blackfire said to Raven, who responded sarcastically. "This must be Raven," Blackfie continued. "I see you have a gemstone over your Ajna Chakra. Mind if I meditate with you sometime?"

"Maybe," Raven politely said, surprising everyone else. Raven noticed. "What? I'm not negative all the time." This just got her more weird looks.

Seeing their reactions, Blackfire moved on. "Robin! Love your cape! It's cooler than Starfire described! And this mask! So mysterious. I'd just love to... take it off and see what you really look like..." Robin started blushing, and stuttered a reply. This got Starfire a little jealous.

Finally, she got to me. "Zal, Kana Myrjats."

"Zal, Komand'r... kysgorf Koriand'r." I responded politely.

"Close. Sister is kisgorf, not kysgorf. I heard you're great at cooking. Mind giving me some pointers?" That got my attention. I do more than just cook and learn Tameran with Starfire. Blackfire was using the information Starfire gave her, not learning for herself who we were. I did lots more than cook and learn a new language, but with other members of the team.

"Beloved sister?" Starfire got Blackfire's attention, "What has brought you to Earth?"

"I was passing through the quadrant. We hadn't seen each other in awhile... so I took a shortcut here through the Draconis Nebula, and almost got sucked into a Black Hole!" She stated, strutting to the couch.

Starfire was shocked at her journey, but everyone else was enthralled. Taking the center of attention, Blackfire began recounting her journey. Starfire, however, wasn't in the mood for storytime and left. I decided to follow her. "Hey Star! What's the problem?"

"My sister hasn't changed," Starfire told me. "Every where we go, I am always in the cast of her shadow. My friends like her more than me."

"Oh, come on Starfire!" I gave her a playful noogie, getting a small smile in return. "Before now, we thought you were an only child. Even I'm curious about this mysterious sister. We're also being good hosts to her. Don't worry, things will settle down in a week or two, if she doesn't leave by then."

"I give thanks for the words of comfort," Starfire hugged me, but still had a bit of a frown.

But things didn't die down. Within two days, Blackfire won the hearts of every other Titan. Even Robin barely noticed Starfire. I was polite to Blackfire, but spent more time with Starfire. She was thankful for that, but upset about her alienation. I thought I caught her call her sister grimplork once, but she denied it.

Then came the night I was preparing for. Starfire had asked me how to win back her friends, and I suggested doing what they wanted, one-on-one. Blackfire, however, had other plans. Dressed in Starfire's clothing, she blew her idea out of the water by suggesting a dance with something for everyone. Even Raven agreed to come.

The dance was... interesting. I wasn't much into 'crowd freestyle' dances they normally put on, but the DJ was taking requests. I put in a swing followed by a slow, but it'd take time to get to the top of the list.

One by one, Blackfire got the Titans to enjoy themselves dancing. Except for Raven; she opted out with a Goth Boy. Then, she turned to me."Hey Kana, where's your groove?" She asked me.

"Sorry," I explained myself, "I prefer couple dances. When one comes up, I'll show you a wild time!"

Blackfire shrugged, then rejoined the dance floor. Soon, she was the center of attention, getting a small group of boys dancing with her. As soon as Starfire was alone, Blackfire noticed. "Hey you two," she beckoned to two of her posse. "My sister's feeling down. Mind getting in with her?" Sure enough, the lackeys went over there and talked jargon. It went over her head, and got her ridiculed out of the dance. Quickly, I found Robin and sent him after her.

Then my dances started. To my luck, Blackfire hadn't found her pink wig yet. "Hey Blackfire," I got her attention. "I did promise you a dance or two."

"Now we'll see how wild you can get!" Blackfire delivered the challenge. I won't say I'm the best there is, but I did take her through some whirls, spins, and flips.

When the swing dance settled down, we caught out breath. "You really do know how to dance," Blackfire told me.

Then the slow dance started. "This won't be as upbeat, but would you like to dance with me again?" I offered her.

She accepted, and we began a simple back-and-forth dance. "So, how are you doing? Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Kind of, but I think I know what's going on here," I told her.

"What do you mean?" Blackfire asked, "I'm here for a wild time."

"You stole that gem you gave Starfire, then led the scouts to your sister. As your biological sibling and a Tameranian, the scouts would be fooled into thinking she was you. She'd then be carted off to jail to serve your entire sentence, and you'd be free to fight crime with us or leave."

Blackfire was stunned at that; she almost tripped over her own foot. "Wow, and I thought Wonder Boy Robin would get it first. Now that you know, what will you do? Tell on me?"

"Just tell you how idiotic that plan was," I told her. That made her raise an eyebrow. "You'd get bored handing around here and leave for better thrills. You'll go back to reckless things that will get you noticed by the law. They'll realize the mistake then, if Starfire doesn't convince them with her testimony. She'll be free, and you'll have additional sentences to serve."

"... Maybe so," Blackfire admitted. "But it'll keep me out of jail for longer."

"I have a different idea," I told her. "How would you like to travel to a parallel dimension, with new things to explore, and where nobody is on the lookout for you?"

That made her stop dancing. But something else made me stop. Movie timing attacked again; my communicator gave an alert. Looking up, the scout was attacking Starfire, and Robin was trying to fight it off. "I'll tell you more later. For now, mind helping us beat those bots?"

"With an offer like yours," Blackfire answered, "I might as well." Another bot then appeared in the dance floor, dragging Beast Boy with it. That caused the crowd to panic.

Blackfire and Cyborg went after Beast Boy while I helped calm down the teens. After they started listening, I guided them to the back exit. Leading them outside, I then took to the roof after Starfire, pulling out my duo swords. There, Robin was trying the same trick from before. However, this scout rolled, dislodging him before he could disable it.

"I started off with a quick Thunder, which only got it's attention. "Robin, it seems they learned from last time. Got another idea for how to beat them?" The bot aimed right at me, I raised my swords and blocked it. I angled my swords so that it would be deflected down to the ground, but it crashed right through the roof.

"Maybe," Robin responded. "Star, give me a lift!" Responding quickly, Starfire picked Robin up and flew them into the air. As the bot rose back up in pursuit, Robin vaulted off Starfire, landed on the base of a tentacle, and proceeded to unhinge it. He was successful, dragging the loose tentacle down to the rooftop with him. "Kana, can you hit my opening?"

"I can. Thunder!" My aim was true, and I hit the tear. Since my magic now had a direct feed into its electrical circuitry, the robot started twitching, slowly descending to the ground. Taking advantage, Starfire flew in and decapitated the robot, safely powering it down.

"Good work team," Robin congratulated, then pulled out his communicator. "Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, we took down another robot. How are you doing?"

Raven picked up. "We've got two of our own."

"We're on our way!" Robin answered, closing the line. Robin lead us to the other side of the building, where we watched the rest of the team hit them out into the open.

At that point, Blackfire decided to show up. The two bots noticed her, and made a beeline for her. Cool under pressure, Blackfire revealed her laser vision, and used it to make the robots explode with one blast each.

"Booyah! Sweet move girl!" Cyborg congratulated her. Everyone else did too.

"How did you know the weak points?" Robin asked, a frown forming on his face.

"... Lucky shot," Blackfire replied.

"With luck like that, you'd do well fighting with us!" Cyborg complimented. "Every consider joining us, full time?"

"... Me? A Teen Titan? Really? That's, an honor!" Blackfire asked, shocked. She wasn't the only shocked Tameranian; Starfire was horrified.

When we got back to Titan Tower, Cyborg got to work on a late dinner. Raven decided to read on the couch. Starfire walked off to her room, too sad to fly. Robin noticed her, and went after her. I joined Beast Boy in finding Blackfire a room. We found one near the women's restroom, and Blackfire seemed to like it.

As soon as Beast Boy left us alone in the room, Blackfire spoke up. "So, what's this offer of yours?"

"There's a war brewing in the dimension I came from," I told her. "I was sent here to train myself, and to find two comrades who can help prepare for and fight in the war with me."

"Let me guess, I'm the one you want?" Blackfire asked, getting a little too cozy in a hug.

"Actually, I'm not sure yet," I admitted, backing up. Seeing her affectionate move fail to convince me, Blackfire stopped trying. "With your ability to learn languages easily and your fighting abilities, you'd make a great companion. However, you're too selfish and pleasure-seeking to come."

That surprised her a bit. "So what are you saying?"

"If you want to come, you'll have to mellow up a little. Here's my deal. Turn yourself over to the authorities, and serve out your sentence. When it's time for me to return to my universe, I'll check up on you and see if you deserve to come."

"You're asking me to go to jail?" Blackfire was surprised.

"I'm asking you to be selfless and tolerate boredom," I answered. "Wait there patiently, and I'll pay bail or get you under my custody."

Blackfire turned to the window and thought for a bit. "I'm not sure about this... waiting in jail idea. Mind giving me some time to think?"

Respecting her space, I left the room and looked for Starfire. According to her communicator, she was already on the roof. When I arrived there, she and Robin were on the roof, staring past me. Turning around, I saw that the officers had just arrived. "Sir, are you looking for..." he didn't let me finish, but hit me aside with his living tentacle. He then knocked back Robin, and grabbed Starfire. While he began reeling her in, his platform got ready to leave.

Moving fast, both Robin and I jumped after her. However, the platform was moving faster than we thought. Robin jumped in front of me and missed. Thinking quickly, I called out to Robin, "Use your grappling hook!" While he reached for it, I used him as a midair platform and vaulted for Starfire. I made it, and was hanging on to Starfire as she was reeled in.

When we got to the top, the aliens were surprised I was there. Quickly, I put my hands up. "Officers, I only want to talk." That didn't go as well as I hoped, and one of them charged at me. Deciding not to challenge him, I jumped to the side while drawing my swords. However, as soon as I landed, I dropped them on the floor. That got the guard's attention quickly. "I said I want to talk. You're after Blackfire, correct?"

"That is correct," the humanoid crustacean replied. "We are now taking her to the Centauri Moons..."

The officer may have wanted to say more, but Robin flipped over the edge of the ship. "Nobody takes my friends away from me!"

"Robin, stand down!" I tried to alert him. But the officer cut to the chase. Before I even finished my sentence, he gave a yell and charged at Robin. Rather than meeting him dead on, Robin jumped up, kicked him mid flip, and landed on the other side of the transport. Deciding for long range, the officer lashed out with his whip. However, Robin deflected it over him, and the officer took out his own engine.

"We've lost engine two," Officer Obvious spoke up. "I can't control it. We're going down!"

"Sure enough, the ship started to descend. As it did, Robin quickly released Starfire, who flew us off the ship. After the nose dipped drastically, the ship started spinning, dislodging the two officers before crash landing.

Soon, the rest of the Teen Titans arrived, and prepared for battle. However, I knew what was really going on. "Titans, stand down!" I tried again. This time, I was heard. I walked over to Starfire and pointed out her necklace. "You heard the source of their order to capture. Starfire," I said that part loud enough for the officers to hear me, "this jewel was stolen from the Centauri Moons, and they wanted to catch the thief."

"Stolen?" Starfire confirmed. She then gasped, realizing what that meant. Slowly, she walked to the officers and handed over the diamond. "I apologize for possessing this. It was a gift from my sister, Blackfire."

"So you are not Blackfire of Tameran?" the officer confirmed.

"No," Beast Boy spoke up, pointing to the sky "she's leaving." Sure enough, Blackfire was heading out. Mad at her sister, Starfire sped after her.

While we watched the showdown between the sisters, Cyborg and Robin helped the officers stabilize their aircraft. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to transport them back to their ship. As soon as they saw an opening, the officers closed in and caught Blackfire.

To my surprise, she didn't curse Starfire. But as she was dragged past me, our eyes met briefly. I couldn't tell her thoughts, but she seemed to be in a bit of sadness. With little formality, the officers left for the Centauri system.

After getting back to the tower, Beast Boy and Cyborg realized they never got the Blackfire rematch and resumed their video game. Robin chewed me out for using him as a spring board, but understood why. Raven returned to her room. But Starfire still seemed blue, so I joined her in her room. "Hey Star, what's the matter?"

"Kana, when she first arrived, I had the thought she had changed. But she did, and changed to crime. How can I help my sister?"

I had to think of how to respond for a couple seconds. "Forgive her, and let her know you still love her," was my answer. "You may have lost your trust in her, but that doesn't mean she can't change for the better. Maybe you can still send her letters, while in jail, telling her what you're doing, and what she could be doing if she were with you, and the Titans. Who knows? Maybe seeing another life would make her want to change."

"I give gratitude, Kana," Starfire responded, hugging me. I hugged her back, and she started to cry. "Do you think for real that my sister can change?" she whispered.

"I don't know," I admitted. "But she can't change if we don't help her. I'll write her too, if that will help."

She pulled back, hands on my shoulders. "You will really do that?" she asked me.

"Of course," I promised her. In response, she was happy enough to hover around me and give me a bone-crushing hug. She then realized something. "Kana, when we first met, you knew not to fight. Then tonight, when I was captured, you didn't fight again. Why did you do that?"

"...I'm special," I responded. "... People with my style of abilities can sense the Light and Darkness of people. I didn't sense any Darkness coming from you when you arrived, nor from those policemen who were taking you away."

"You have a good sense," Starfire admitted. "Did you sense any Darkness in my sister?"

"Maybe," I told her. "But it was weak, and tainted. It seems more like she became a bad guy for the thrill. Hopefully, by spending time in jail, she can get used to being bored and realize she doesn't need to break the law to have fun."

"I hope so as well," Starfire agreed. "I shall start my letter to her now." With that, she left. Deciding now would be a good time to send mine as well, I followed her.

* * *

**As you might see, I'm trying to dumb down the parts that are part of the original episode and expand around it. This makes this series harder than it looks.**

* * *

**AnonymousGX**


	4. Final Exam

This day came by surprise. But I can only blame myself. I was looking for living goop in the fridge for a sign, but I had the bright idea months ago to hire cleaning maids. They were too good at their job; even Beast Boy's bed was lice-free under the mattress!

The morning started out like normal. Breakfast was prepared by myself this time; basic eggs and french toast. Since Robin was pushing our training harder after our recent grapple with Cinderblock, Beast Boy and Cyborg took to playing video games while eating, before practice started. The rest of us were having breakfast together.

When the meal was over, Robin stood up for an announcement. "Today, our training is suspended."

We may have been on the top floor, but I'm sure I heard a cricket from outside chirping. "SAY WHA!?" Cyborg shouted.

"Who are you and what did you do to Robin?" Beast Boy accused.

"This is irregular," Raven noted.

"To what do we owe this surprise?" Starfire asked.

"I looked at my calendar, and realized that this is our anniversary as a team," Robin revealed.

"You mean to say we've been together for a whole year?" Beast Boy wondered.

"It doesn't feel like it's been that long," Cyborg said, checking his forearm. "... Yep, it's a year."

"Today, we are taking a day off from training," Robin continued. "Be ready for battle, but relax and enjoy this day."

"It it has been the year-passing," Starfire thought, "why do we not celebrate?"

"Boo-yah!" Cyborg cheered. "A Titan party! We'll have presents, party poppers..."

"Tofu burgers, ice cream..." Beast Boy continued, the duo in sync, mostly.

"Woo hoo," Raven intoned.

"I have an idea!" I spoke up. "If it's been a year since we met, let's have dinner at the place we all met!"

"That would be glorious!" Starfire spoke up. "It has been too long since I had the chips and the guacamole!"

"Wait, what?" I was surprised. I was thinking of the pizza joint.

"You're right Star!" Robin said. "That's where we all got together to fight the Gordanians."

"Yeah!" Beast Boy remembered. "That's when we totally trashed them and shipped them back to... wherever they came from!"

"... I'll make the reservations," Raven offered, moving to the phone and using magic to open the phone book.

That really threw off my preparations for the encounter. The Casa Salsa was a nice place, and we all ordered various foods. Starfire got a salad bowl with hot sauce, which was love at first bite. Raven chose the tamale, which looked and smelled disgusting to me. Robin had a healthy portion of Tacos. Beast Boy and Cyborg shared a giant Nacho Supremo plate with various veggie toppings, although Cyborg insisted that his half have some ground beef. I had a fajita burrito.

After dinner, we started heading home. That's when we saw an accident about to happen. Thankfully, my interference with the Titans didn't yet extend to the HIVE. They had the same accident prepared; an empty bus rolling downhill, straight for a baby carriage.

"Titans, GO!" Robin shouted. "Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, stop that bus! Star, get the baby and anyone else out of the way!"

Like a well-oiled machine, the team sprung into action. Robin and I followed behind everyone else. Since we were uphill, Beast Boy went Pterodactyl to give Cyborg a lift, while Starfire and Raven flew. Starfire streaked ahead, pushing the stroller from behind to the sidewalk. Raven got beside the bus, then used her magic to turn the brakes on. Getting ahead of the bus, Beast Boy turned into a gorilla, and together with Cyborg, they safely stopped the bus.

"Dude, the bus is empty," Beast Boy called out. "There's no driver either..."

"And this baby carrier has no baby," Starfire let the rest know. She turned around, holding a green teddy bear.

"Anybody know the word trap?" I asked, recognizing what was going on..

"Starfire!" Robin caught on, yelling a warning, "Drop the..." It was too late; the teddy exploded, knocking Starfire a block away. While we watched her arc, the bus was picked up from the end away from the rest of our team. Since we were uphill, Robin and myself saw a teen I knew as Mammoth was behind it. "Raven, Cyborg! Beast..." Robin tried again, but the bus slammed down on them.

"Four down, two to go," a female voice behind us spoke up. Turning around, we saw a purple and black striped girl waved her hands towards something above us. Figuring what she was up to, I jumped away from her, while Robin looked up. Above him was a light pole, whose arm joints lost their screws. Robin was too startled to react in time, the metal bar landed square on top of him.

"Looks like you miscounted," I said.

The bus was blasted up by a sonic wave. "You may have surprised us..." Cyborg said, shaking rubble off him.

"... but we aren't down yet!" Beast Boy said.

Robin, with a little bit of pain, got the pole off his waist and stood up. "Titans! GO!"

"HIVE," the girl, who I knew was Jinx, commanded, "attack pattern alpha." With that announcement, a green-clad boy swooped down from above. With robotic wings, he glided over us, the wings firing energy blasts at Raven's group, scattering them. Cyborg went straight for Mammoth, leading to a wrestling match. They were about even, but Mammoth was only the diversion.

Gizmo swooped down, then clamped a rocket to Cyborg's back. Said rocket ignited, sending Cyborg on a wacky ride above the city. "Raven," Robin alerted her, "Help Cyborg out!" Quickly responding, Raven flew up, magic ready to free her comrade.

During this, I saw that Jinx was moving to the side, preparing to come in and strike. "Oh no you don't!" I called, charging in. I pulled out my Bow staff and held it out to the side, ready to swing.

"It's bad luck to choreograph your moves like that," Jinx taunted. Right before my swing, Jinx front flipped over me with a twist, planning to use my shoulders as a springboard while knocking me off balance.

Luckily, I noticed the move as she prepared to grab. In response, I used my bow staff, slamming it into the ground where Jinx used to stand. When she pushed me, the staff let me keep my balance. Then, using it as a base, I lifted myself up and mule kicked at Jinx's back. "And don't use such an obvious fighting style," I responded. Surprised at the move, she was hit in the shoulders and knocked off balance. She recovered by rolling the impact, then using her hands to propel herself into a flip to stand. However, I could tell her arms were a little sore. "You've got some style for a gymnast. I'm Kana. What's your name?" I asked, moving in for round two.

"Jinx," she kept her cool, even while evading my strikes. While there was some variance to it, I noticed she was dodging back towards the middle of the street.

"Let me guess, Jinx," I spoke up. "Attack pattern alpha is where two people engage an enemy each, and the third takes advantage of their opponent's blind spots."

"You're smart, for a fart-brain," Gizmo's voice came from above and behind me.

"Reflect!" I countered, not even bothering to look first. My timing was right; an energy gun made three shots for me. My shields held, however, and returned the damage. Jinx jumped back to avoid it. But I could tell that the return damage wouldn't reach Gizmo, so I turned around. To my luck, he was in spider-stilt mode. Using the Bow staff's reach, I aimed at the closest joint, dislocating it and knocking the frame to the ground, and Gizmo with it, screaming all the way.

"Gizmo!" Jinx was stunned at my move.

"I'm okay!" Gizmo responded, retracting his mechanical limbs before flying away.

"I guess I won't need this anymore," I folded up my staff and returned it to my side bag. One enemy down, I turned my attention back to Jinx. I rushed in again, focusing more on a boxing style of hit and weave.

"Won't need it?" Jinx echoed, blocking my attacks and kicking back.

"When I saw... Gizmo, right? When he used the jet pack, I figured I'd need my staff's length to hit him," I responded, getting a little frustrated that neither of our attacks have yet hit their mark. "I could tell that you were more graceful and swift than strong. A Bow staff isn't the ideal weapon against such a style." Me calling her graceful got a bit of a blush, but didn't give her any pause. While I was up close like this, I took the time to read Jinx's aura. To my surprise, she was a little light, but had some dark doubts. Her doubts made sense, but the light was a welcome surprise. I began to think that she could more easily change sides than waiting for Flash.

Getting into the rhythm of our fight, I took the time to look around at the rest of the battle. Mammoth was single-handedly beating Robin and Beast Boy. Gizmo was back in the air around him. "Is it just me, or are we getting are behinds whipped?" Beast Boy asked.

"It's just you," Robin and I responded. Robin continued, "I have a plan! Titans, regroup!"

Knowing what should come next, I turned from Jinx and made my way to him. "That was fun Jinx. Freeze," I left her a parting Blizzard gift, one that would knock her back and prevent her following me. Her response, however, was to use her own magic. I guess she was trying to melt the ice. But to our surprise, the ice was unaffected by her blast, hitting her square in the chest without freezing her.

Unfortunately, with my attention divided between Robin, Jinx, and Gizmo, I forgot about Mammoth. I wanted to be hit, but I would have preferred Gizmo to shoot. Mammoth, however, noticed me hit Jinx, and didn't like it. I was blindsided by a postal drop box, knocking me out of the fight. Beast Boy was taken out by Gizmo's blaster. "I hope you're plan involves getting fried," he taunted, aiming for Robin.

"Try me," Robin said with a smile, getting into a battle-ready stance. However, it didn't prepare him for what came next. Gizmo turned his gun down, and fired at the ground. While the sidewalk cracked, Jinx used her magic, growing and guiding the cracks to Robin. With a mighty leap, Mammoth finished the job, splitting the earth all around Robin. With a yell, Robin fell into an open water pipe, and was quickly carried under.

"Robin!" Starfire was back. She stared at the destruction, then turned on the HIVE. "You did this!" Her righteous fury was higher than I've seen before. With mighty star-blasts, Starfire pressed hard on the HIVE, forcing them to retreat.

"Way to go Star!" Beast Boy cheered, before wincing on his hurt leg. Noticing, I cast a Cure to help.

"Robin!" Starfire remembered, flying back to the crack. Seeing no sign of her close friend, Starfire sunk to the ground.

"Starfire, we'll try to find him," I reassured her. "But we can't do it from here. Let's go back to Titan Tower. We can try to locate him from there."

Somewhat comforted, Starfire got up. But she was so distressed, she couldn't fly. So we were forced to walk back to Titans Tower. Accessing our main computer allowed us to try to track our fallen comrade. However, the computer couldn't locate Robin. Starfire was crushed, and forced us to the doors.

However, the doors opened before we got there. In walked Raven and Cyborg. "You guys look better than I do," Cyborg said. It was true; it seemed like Cyborg had a crash or two before getting back. "So, how did we beat them?"

Starfire and Beast Boy went quiet. Hesitantly, I began. "Starfire... got mad enough to blast them away with her star bolts."

"Seriously?" Cyborg was surprised. "What made her that mad?"

"They opened the ground under Robin," Starfire spoke up, breaking down into tears, "and an underground river carried him away."

Cyborg let his shock show. "It can't be..."

"We'll find him," Raven spoke up.

"We tried tracking his communicator," Beast Boy responded, "but there was no signal."

"If he's in the lead pipes, that could mask the signal," Cyborg thought. "I'm sure he'll turn up soon."

Like magic, the doors knocked. With an excited gasp, Starfire flew to the doors. However, I noticed purple magic working on the door's hinges. "Everyone back!" I called.

Most of us barely got clear. With the hinges loose, it was easy for somebody to punch the door in. Starfire was a little slow to respond to my warning, and got hit.

"Not again!" Beast Boy gasped. Starfire got the door off her and turned to face our foes with us.

"Yes, again," Jinx confirmed, leading Gizmo and Mammoth into our base.

"Titans!" I rallied them, "They tag team; one distracts while the other prepares to fight."

"Then lets separate them!" Cyborg spoke up. "Titans, scatter!" That command made us split up. Raven and Starfire fled through the right wing, baiting Mammoth to follow. Cyborg took the left wing, and Gizmo chased him to mess with his circuitry.

That left Beast Boy and myself on the main floor with Jinx. I pulled out by staff and split it into two sections. "Beast Boy, lets get some terrain advantage!" I called out. He understood my idea. Together, we charged Jinx. As she cast a spell on the ground to protect herself, we ignored her. Beast Boy went Pterodactyl, grabbed one of my rods, and gave me a lift over her trap and out of the tower. As we passed her, I swung at her. Between her focus on floor magic and her surprise at our move, I easily landed a hit, knocking her out of the tower with us.

Once outside, we led her towards the small forest. She was wily, however, and messed with us along the way. She'd cast her magic at the ground, making rocks appear, holes gap below our feet, and even once made a patch of quicksand. Luckily, Beast Boy was able to wriggle his way out as a snake before flying on.

Once we reached the forest, we got to work. With basic shrubbery and tall trees, Beast Boy and I scattered. We used these hiding places to our advantage, confusing and goading her. When she thought she found one of us, another would attract her attention, either by charging for a glancing blow, or by rustling our own hiding place.

Our plan was working for awhile, but Jinx got annoyed. Acting rashly, she cast her magic all over. The bushes became thorny and brittle. Since I was hiding in one at the time, I can tell you that you don't want to be in the middle of it. I had to burn the bush to get out safely. Any trees hit by her spells began shedding limbs, and even falling over. Beast Boy, in monkey form, was forced to flee.

Jinx saw Beast Boy first, and began running after him, uprooting more trees along the way. I tried to follow, but was late and not quite as fast as her. On the defensive, Beast Boy had no choice but to run. Soon, they were out of the forest, and on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

As they stood there, we heard screams above us. Looking up, we saw our teammates get booted out of the tower, hard, and into the ocean a little ways beyond us. "Raven!" Beast Boy cried, before looking back at Jinx. They both then made their move. Jinx fired some magic at the ground around him, and Beast Boy went T-Rex in retaliation. However, that form had the disadvantage. Jinx had destabilized the cliff, and the additional weight of the dino helped it come loose faster. The cliff gave way, causing Beast Boy to fall.

However, the cliff was decaying faster than Jinx thought. The cracks began to spread fast, leading to her. Startled, she didn't react in time as the ground gave way under her. "Wind," I cast, aiming for Jinx. This Aero spell caused her to float on a small tornado of air. Acting quickly, I fastened by rods back into a proper staff, and used it to hook Jinx back onto stable land.

When she recovered, she looked at me. "Why did you do that?"

"I'm a hero," I answered. "We help people. I can also tell that a cute girl like you isn't doing this out of the blackness of her heart. You're not really that evil." I looked over the ocean. "Looks like you beat the rest of the team. Congratulations." These compliments surprised and confused her. "As surprising as it may seem, I don't think I can take your team on alone. I guess I should join mine. See you around." With that, I jumped off the cliff, using another Aero to insure I didn't descend too fast.

Down in the water, Beast Boy had become a whale. That form allowed the Titans to rest above water, and allowed me a dry landing platform. I looked over the team. Cyborg had lost his arm, Raven was a bit bruised but alright, and Starfire was decent. Above us, the HIVE was reforming. "Looks like we beat you pit-stains good," Gizmo laughed. "Jinx, send them packing."

"Huh?" Jinx was startled out of her stupor. "Right." With a wave of her hand, a real wave formed. Surprised at her level of power, Beast Boy didn't think to submerge and avoid it. We were caught in its undertow, and dragged far away.

Once the wave died down, we were closer to the mainland. Beast Boy acted as transportation, giving us a slow and long ride. Once there, we all went ashore, and quickly started squabbling about what happened that day. By that time, the Hive had almost finished turning Titan Tower into Hive Tower, another sore point for us. Beast Boy reverted to human form, and joined us ashore. "Dudes, did we just get booted out of our own digs?"

"That's not all," Cyborg turned to him. "I was used by a pint sized puppeteer, and became left-handed!"

"We need to calm down," Raven spoke up.

"I agree," I commented. "If we want to take back Titan Tower, we'll need to use teamwork."

"Robin would know what it is we should do," Starfire solemnly said.

"Then it's a good thing I'm back," a voice came from a nearby pipe. Robin had come out of the sewers. "Now, let's talk strategy. They win because they double-team on us. Let's do that to them."

"When Jinx's magic collided with mine, mine won," I revealed. "I'll be her bait."

"When she was frustrated, she went berserk with her powers," Beast Boy remembered.

"Then you'll be perfect to annoy her," Raven answered, making Beast Boy a little upset. "We need to get her to where her powers get her in trouble."

"Good plan. The scaffolding for the... renovation... looks like a good trap," Robin said. "Any other plans?"

"Gizmo knows how to mess with my circuitry," Cyborg reminded us. "I'll get that tyke's attention."

"He also wears that gadget pack," Robin recalled. "I can mess it up."

"And the Mammoth is strong," Starfire commented. "He may need more than one target of distraction."

"We'll work on him when the rest are beat," Robin decided. "But for now, we have to rattle them, take them by surprise."

"I can startle them," Cyborg offered. "I'm still connected to my arm. Lets see what mayhem I can start..." While Cyborg got to work, Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy gave the rest of the team a quick ride back to the top of our tower. Soon, we heard alarms going off inside. "The party has begun!"

"Lets send them an invitation," Robin offered.

"I'll bring that punk kid here," Cyborg said, focusing on his missing arm.

"I got the girl," Raven offered, transforming into her astral form and descending through the roof.

"And I shall retrieve the Mammoth," Starfire affirmed, flying along the building.

Sure enough, each HIVE member was forcibly brought to the roof. Mammoth crashed through the roof, Stafire giving him an uppercut. Gizmo came through a vent, Cyborg's arm releasing him before returning to his owner. Jinx didn't respond well to Raven's transport; I figured Raven didn't fully protect her from her influence.

"Looks like your housewarming party is over," Robin told them.

"Attack Pattern Alpha," Jinx called out, lashing with her magic. The ground below us began to quake; we split up, ready to put our plan into action.

I cast Fire to get Jinx on the move. She smoothly flipped to the side, then engaged me. Going without weapons, I jumped and leaped with her, slowly guiding her flips and twirls towards the scaffolding. "So Jinx," I tried to talk to her, "why are you hanging out with this crowd?"

Jinx rolled under a flying round kick, then tried to attack my backside. "What's it to you?"

"I can tell we could be good friends, if you opened up to us," I answered, using my arm to block her kick, then tried to grab her leg.

She retracted quickly, then back flipped away. "Good luck with that."

She was now in position, below the scaffolding. "Then I'm sorry it has to be this way. BEAST BOY!" I called out, backing away from Jinx.

From up in the crossbars, a green chimp jumped. With its strong arms, Beast Boy rode Jinx's face. Its high-pitched voice, itchy fur, and tight grip startled Jinx and set her off. Waving her hands wildly, her magic flowed over the screws and bolts. The plan complete, Beast Boy leapt off, then reverted to his human form. "Your luck, just ran out," were his parting words before joining the rest of the Titans against Mammoth.

At first, Jinx was confused. But a groaning overhead caught her attention, as well as a screw to the forehead. When she looked up, she realized what her magic caused. All the joints were released, and the metal bars started coming down. One fell behind her, another closer and to her right. With the weight of what was happening dawning on her, she turned towards me. I expected anger, betrayal, or another emotion. But all I saw was fear. That look made up my mind. "Reflect," I cast, just as another beam was about to crash onto her head. The spell protected her, and pushed the falling beams off of her location.

When the dust settled, there was a dome of large bars encasing Jinx. There was an opening in the top, and Jinx crawled out of it. Turning to see me, she jumped off and stood face-to-face in front of me. "Why'd you do that?"

"Have you forgotten already?" I teased. "I think we can be friends, and I can't let anyone get hurt like that." A deep bellow sounded over us. We saw Mammoth get sent flying off the tower. "I guess its our turn to give you the boot. Sorry, and happy landings!" I grabbed her by the waist and gave her a good heave ho. We were close to the ledge, so it wasn't a difficult toss. As soon as she was airborne, I cast another Aero, to give her both distance and a soft landing.

The last HIVE member was Gizmo. His pack was fried, and no longer sparking. Calming down, he turned and looked at us with a bit of fear. "Mammoth? Jinx!" he called for help.

"We already sent them packing," Cyborg informed him.

"Crumb-buckets!" Gizmo swore. "I'm calling Deathstroke."

"Who is Deathstroke?" Robin gripped Gizmo's collar and lifted him to eye level.

"Oh! Wouldn't you like to know!" Gizmo's brash nature didn't suit Robin, who quickly threw him off the tower.

Without a word, Robin went inside, determined to find out about Deathstroke. Excited about their win, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg got to work restoring Titan Tower. Raven, however, walked over to me. "You went easy on that girl. You protected her. Why?"

"Because she reminded me of you," I answered. "Her powers are naturally dark, and she could hurt herself and those around her if she's not careful. I couldn't let anything backfire on her, because I'd do the same for you." My response was honest, my feelings sincere as a friend. Raven felt it, I'm sure, but left to help fix our home.

* * *

**With Sage Mode and Magic done for now, I have more time to prepare chapters like these. How is my story going so far?**

**I'm putting my 'Guess the companion' pole up again. I already have an idea of who to bring, and an entire world planned for one character, but it'll be fun to see what you guys anticipate.**

* * *

**AnonymousGX**


	5. Nevermore

**After watching Inside Out, I just HAD to rewrite this chapter. That's why it took so long for me to update this and other stories.**

* * *

Our first encounter with Doctor Light begun the same as in the episode; he had robbed a bank truck. Luckily, the episodes seemed to be in chronological order, since I bought strong sunglasses soon after expelling the HIVE from Titan Tower. Unfortunately, the blasts still hurt. I admit I was cocky, and got hit by the first blast.

I woke up before sunrise the next day in my bed. While I took that to mean I wasn't bedridden or hospitalized, my back and stomach was sore; I was hit in the front and pushed far back. I also noticed a bandage on my head; the blast probably dragged me into something, which knocked me out. I cast a quick Cure, then got up to eat.

However, everybody else was asleep. I decided to prepare everyone else breakfast, after sunrise. I figured that this battle went like in the episode, and that Raven's anger loosened its fetters, so I decided to maker her some tea. However, we were fresh out. I considered trying to create some with my Dreamer abilities. However, I knew what I wanted to do, and decided I needed all my strength. So, I went to the store. Luckily, one was open. In addition to the tea, I bought some omelette ingredients.

I got back a little before sunup. I had just enough time to prepare the eggs before people started trickling in. Beast Boy was first. "Hey BB!" I called to him. "I'm preparing omelette's, but can whip something up for you. Want tofu, or to try an omlette?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure," Beast Boy sat down slowly at the table.

"I know you, you're never this down," I prepared my omelette, turned the fire down for a slower cook, and sat next to him. "What happened?"

"It's Rae," Beast Boy remembered. "After wiping the street with you, Doctor Light took us out and hit her. Then she went all red-eyes and dark tentacley." He showed me an octopus form, then reverted with a shiver. "She even growled at me."

"That bad?" I confirmed. "I guess I should brew some of that tea I just bought." I got up to flip my meal. "Don't worry about her. Her powers are naturally dark. She probably fights hard to keep it under control. Give her some space, but let her know you're still friends."

"Okay," Beast Boy signed. He then looked at me. "Dude, you're out of bed, and where's your bandage?"

"Magic healing, remember?" I smiled at him while pulling out a small pot to boil some water. "So, tofu, or veggie omelette?"

"You know I'm vegetarian," Beast Boy said, with a bit of a smile.

"Yeah, but vegetarians do eat eggs and drink milk," I reminded him, turning the heat back on on my omelette. "Vegans don't have animal anything."

"Then call me Vegan, bro," Beast Boy confirmed.

"Come on, Beast Boy," I teased while pulling out the tofu. "Just two eggs, some milk, and a bunch of vegetarian ingredients won't hurt. You haven't been an egghead, have you?"

That got a laugh out of him. Slowly, the other Titans trickled in. Most of them were tense over what happened last night, and none wanted to talk about it. Starfire wasn't tense, however. Her hug almost made me bedridden when she saw I was doing well.

Finally, Raven walked in. That was a bad sign for me. She was actively avoiding the use of her powers. "Hey Raven. Want some breakfast and tea?" I offered her a tray.

She took a quick look at it, and sniffed. "Chamomile. Thanks."

"My pleasure," I handed it to her with a smile. "Hey, I was hit hard last night. Mind telling me what I missed?"

She quickly turned, heading for the elevator. "No."

"Raven," I spoke softly. "Beast Boy told me part of it. We want you to know that we're still your friends. We're here for you. If you need anything, all you have to do is ask."

She turned around to look at me. Her eyes lingered on my forehead, then looked at me properly. I then noticed a blush start to form. She did too; she left for the rooftop before anybody else could see. I knew that was her favorite meditation spot; she'd go there when particularly stressed.

"Guys," I spoke up. "There's something I want to check. All of you, please leave Raven alone. She needs time to compose herself."

With this feeble excuse, I went to Raven's room. After waiting a few minutes, nobody came to knock. Knowing the coast was clear, I opened her desk drawer and pulled out the mirror. I thought that it would automatically suck me in. However, nothing was happening. "Hello?" I tried. No response. "I want to help Raven." Nothing happened, but I thought I saw a shimmer in the mirror. "I could sense something wrong. Please, I'm not sure Raven can do this on her own."

I finally got a response. From within the mirror, Raven's face appeared. It was too close to see her cloak, but her eyes had a white glow. Quickly, she grabbed me with her powers and pulled me in.

Against my expectations, my ride in and landing were smooth. The terrain was a bit rocky, and flaky, but the path was clear. A little farther down, a circular platform waited for me. I started walking down the path.

"Turn back," a voice echoed. I looked around. Little crows with red eyes were gathering, flying in from other places.

"I'm here to help Raven," I informed them. I thought they were cute, but decided to hurry on before they went vicious.

"Turn back," they continued. I guess either they didn't understand, of they didn't care. One of them got close. However, it quickly flew back, startled. "Key!" it cried. I thought it cried out a normal crow sound at first. But soon, all the birds were agitated, crying out "Key!"

As I watched, their features slowly became more demonic. They grew larger, revealed their teeth, and had a claw in the middle of each wing. Their eyes also became larger. On their chests, a familiar symbol appeared, surprising me. "Unversed!" I identified. Almost out of instinct, I began to extend my arms to summon my Keyblades. However, I caught myself. Raven was a half-demon being; summoning a Light Keyblade within her mind could damage her. I also didn't want to open a hole for Heartless to appear through yet either. So I did the next best thing: I ran like Ash from his first flock of Spearow. A couple managed to reach me, but I fended them off with my staff.

Finally, I reached the landing. As I crossed its border, the crows vanished and the landscape changed. I was now in the middle of a grassy field, with slight rolling hills. The sky was a light blue with few fluffy clouds. A little ways away, a small Greek roofed structure stood, veils draped across the open pillars. "Hello Kana," Raven's voice came from within, along with a soft giggle. "I'm so glad you could come by."

As I approached, I could make out her silhouette, however, due to the sun's glare and the shadows of the structure, I couldn't make out a color. "Hello Raven," I greeted. "Did you bring me here?"

"Yes," she answered. "You said you wanted to help."

"I do." As I approached, she receded further into the room. "Are you Joy? Raven's happy side?"

Instead of answering, she giggled. As I entered the room, she quickly hugged me, which I returned. "I know one thing I need help with," she whispered, leaning in close.

However, as my eyes adjusted, I noticed her cloak. I was previously under the impression she was Pink Raven, or Joy. However, her cloak was purple. Looking beyond her, there was a skylight in the middle of the circular structure, highlighting an Ancient Greek leisure bench. I hoped I was wrong about where this was headed. Quickly, I released the hug and stepped back, a little ways out of the room. "Not in that way."

She gave a pout that I must admit was cute. "Aww, why not?"

"You're not Joy, you're Love," I identified her. "You can't do anything other than love me. I make a mistake, you forgive me without correction. I hit you, you forget it. I don't want to be with a person unless she chooses to be with me."

"So... you want a girl who can reject you, but cares for you more than that?" Love sighed. "How romantic."

"I'm here to help restore balance to Raven," I brought her back on track, "I could sense that something was off with her, and thought her dark side was taking over. I came here to bring her peace."

"You want to see... her?"

"If by her, you mean Anger, then yes." Love gasped when I said 'Anger'.

"Don't. Stay here, with me," she pleaded, grabbing my arm. "I may not be able to reject you, but she can only hate you. Why would you want to be with her over me?"

She was really turning up the sexy in her voice. But on Raven, that seemed weird. However, she wasn't letting go of me. If I wanted to chase Red Raven, I needed to convince her to release me. "Tell me," I asked, "do you, and Raven, really love me, or are you Raven's loving side trying to find release?"

She took a moment to think about it. "Raven really does love you. Or at least, something close to love."

I was kind of confused. "What do you mean, close?"

"It's like..." she thought, "... she sees you as a good friend. No... Her feelings for you are like a brother, but closer."

I took it a step further. "And if another guy came in with me? If I wanted to leave but he wished to stay with you?"

She shook her head. "I may feel something for everyone Raven cares for. But she has a special place for you."

That took me by surprise. Raven's own Love told me that she may love me, and already considered me part of her family. "I may care for her as well, but am not sure how much," I admitted. "But I want my love life to include marriage, and children. I want us to face our problems together, so that we can strengthen our bonds. If I stay here, will I be able to do that?"

Love almost swooned at my future love life. However, when thinking of an answer, she quickly frowned. "No, you can't."

"But if I were to face Anger, alongside Raven..."

She quickly caught on. "... then that bond will bring you two closer!" With an excited shriek, she almost leapt into the air. However, she still kept a grip on me.

"Exactly! But there's a problem," with matchmaking on the line, Love grew serious and listened intently. "How am I supposed to get Raven's attention and find Anger?"

"Leave Raven to me!" She winked, then hesitated. "She... she's looking for the Forbidden Door. Go out that way, and follow the path," she gestured the opposite way that I came from.

"Thank you so much Love," I kissed her on the forehead. Hey, Love deserved it, and needed further motivation. "Wish me luck!"

The kiss froze her for a long while. However, I could see a blush, and a smile forming. Slowly, I heard a noise come from her, steadily growing louder and higher pitched. Figuring I had just set off a fangirl bomb, I ducked out of there before she could turn it against me.

Once outside the field, the barren world returned. After a few seconds, a stone wall appeared in front of me. Along with them, another Raven appeared. This time, she was wearing grey. "Let me guess, you're Worry," I said as softly as I could.

"Mhmmm," she managed to get out.

"Do you know how to get through this maze?" I prodded.

She nodded. "Will you please lead me through it?"

She shook her head. "Why not?"

"You won't like me anymore..." she stuttered.

"Worry," I put my hand on her shoulder. However, she flinched away from me and shrank. Instead, I went in front of her, and kneeled to be at her height. "I can't stop liking you. You'd have to do something drastic, like rip my arm off, before I consider you no longer my friend."

"Really?" she asked.

"Absolutely," I confirmed. "Now, which way?"

Slowly, she led me through. However, with each turn, she kept apologizing for something Raven did. "Worry," I got her attention. "Remember what I said, the first night Raven and I met?" She stared at me. "I don't care who you were..."

She took a second, but finished it, "... I care about what you become."

"Exactly. I forgave you for every single thing a long time ago. But I'm glad you remember what you did wrong." Both of those statements got a small gasp from her. "Remembering means you really care about what you did, and want to get better. The only person who needs to forgive you is yourself. Can you do that?"

"... I'll try," she agreed.

At a bit faster pace, we continued down the maze. However, after a few turns, I noticed something. "Worry, you're cloak's turning white."

It was true. Slowly, her cloak had become less grey. However, when I pointed it out, it quickly flashed back to its original color. "I'm sorry," she quickly stated.

"I get it..." I realized. "Raven's losing reasons to be worried. That's what's turning you white. You don't need to be concerned about it."

"If I turn white," she asked, looking over her cloak, "will I disappear? You'll be lost in the maze."

"I don't think so," I countered. "I knew another boy who had a split personality. When he accepted his dark side, and realized he had no reason to be angry, the dark half vanished."

"So, Raven has to accept me?" Worry asked.

"Most likely," I agreed. "But as long as Anger's loose, she has a reason to be afraid. You won't leave me lost in here." That gave her comfort, and lightened her cloak a little. "Speaking of which, how did you find me?"

"I sensed you," she admitted. "Raven, she was afraid for you."

"You found me," I reiterated, "because Raven was afraid for me?" She nodded. "Raven blushed at me before Love brought me into the mirror. Now you appear when she's worried about me."

I had connected the dots, and Worry confirmed this too. "We're stronger when she should feel an emotion, but denies or represses us."

"Which is why Anger is so dangerous," I finished. She didn't respond, and silently led me around the last turn. By this time, we had reached the end of the maze. "If Raven was worried about me, then that must mean that Love got her attention."

"She almost made me kiss Robin in front of Starfire," a new voice spoke up. Worry vanished when she started talking. Turning around, the familiar Raven stood in front of me.

"That wasn't my idea!" I insisted. "Raven, I'm here to help."

"You can't help!" She told me, guiding me safely past her maze guardians. "Last night, something got loose."

"Your dark half?" I guessed. She stopped walking and looked at me. "I can read people's auras, I could tell something was stirring. I know about confronting a person's dark side. Naruto, Sora, Ven, many others have done it. I've done it too, but Ven's probably the best comparison. His dark side created Unversed as well."

"Unversed?" Raven asked.

In answer, the transformed crows appeared. "Key!" the cried, noticing me.

"If a person has their dark side separated from the rest," I summarized, pulling out my staff, "that darkness can become strong enough to split into multiple bodies with various forms, depending on how much darkness they have. These monster forms and original are called Unversed."

"Whatever they're called, they're not welcome in my mind!" Raven announced, preparing her magic. However, she didn't get a chance to cast a thing. From above, a green cloak dropped, kicking and leaping all over the Unversed, causing them to vanish in defeat.

"Oooh yeah!" this Raven cheered when she landed. "It's been too long since I've seen action like that! Hive fives all around!"

"I know I should call you courage," I told her, giving her a quick one, "but you've got Spunk. Thanks for the save."

"No problem!" Spunk told me, punching me in the shoulder. "Say, what made them go all 'key' crazy?"

"I did," I admitted. "They can sense something about me, something I haven't shown anyone here yet."

"What is it?" Raven asked.

"My weapons and companions, the Keyblades."

"Key... blades?" Spunk frowned. "They don't sound very dangerous."

"They're deadly enough to cut through skyscrapers when wielded by an average 15 year old boy," I informed her, "and are the bane of the Unversed, like those birds, as well as Heartless, Nobodies, and Dream Eaters."

"Really?" Spunk was in awe. "Where can I get one of those?"

"You have to be accepted by a Keyblade, from somebody who currently wields one."

Spunk thought for a second, then seemed to understand. However, Raven spoke up as she held her hand out. "I don't want to take your weapon from you."

"Come on Rae!" Spunk whined. "It's not like he's using it."

"I may have to," I interrupted them, "against Anger. Raven, what exactly happened last night?"

I think Raven may have answered, but a large roar thundered over the terrain. Many crows started flying to the source. "Looks like Anger's gathering her strength," I noted. As I turned to look at my companions, Spunk was gone. "Raven, we may need all the help we'll get."

"She's too powerful for all of us," Raven spoke up, trying her best to control her every emotion.

"Good thing I wasn't planning on fighting," I surprised her. "Fighting your dark side is almost never the answer. Let me lead you, and Anger, through the proper method."

"How?" she asked.

"First, summon Love and Worry here," I told her. "The rest can help, but those two might be the only ones who are necessary. While you do that, I'll take the first step for you."

"And what is that?" Raven asked.

"Calming Anger down," I told her. "Wish me luck."

"**ANGER SHALL RULE!**" a demonic voice spoke up. Turning, I saw that a giant red demon man had appeared, based on Trigon's appearance. However, unlike her real father, Anger had clawed feet and was missing his horn crown.

"Anger?" I called softly, getting her attention, "I want to talk."

She stared down at me for a couple seconds. I continued to walk slowly towards her, no weapons in hand. However, she stepped forward with a yell and tried to punch me. Quickly, I jumped back. "I said I want to talk!" I called out. "By the way, great look Anger. You got the angry demon lord appearance perfected. Who or what is it based on?"

That took her by surprise. "**My father!**"

"You father is a demon?" I acted a bit surprised. "I was kind of thinking that, but wow. I don't think any less of you though!"

With another roar, she set her eyes ablaze and fired a flaming beam at me. I dodged again. "Well, at least we started to communicate," I pointed out. "Lets try again. You're Raven's anger, right? Is she angry at me for anything?"

That didn't lesson her attacks on me. But after a few grunts, she finally spoke. "**You have the Key!**"

"It's true that I'm a Keybearer," I admitted. "But have I used it yet? The Unversed attacked me, as well as you. Why wouldn't I use it?"

That gave her pause. Literally; she was about to punch me, but stopped without withdrawing. "I'm not here to destroy you, or force you back into a cage. I want you to be at peace, with Raven and the other emotions."

As I spoke, I noticed the demon form begin to waver. However, at the mention of Raven, she roared again. "**Raven! She will feel my wrath!**" With that pronouncement, she began walking towards Raven, who had gathered the rest of her Emoticlones.

"Anger!" I called out, running ahead of her. "This isn't the answer!" My words reached deaf ears and a loud growl. "Angler! Please, I don't want to fight you!"

She then turned to me. "**Raven must feel my hatred! You cannot protect her!**" She said, raising her hand up.

"And we're back to the punching," I half moaned before dodging. "I guess I have to do this. Raven!" I got her attention. "Looks like we'll have to remove her power before we can reason with her."

"How?" Raven asked.

"He's too powerful for us," Worry pointed out.

"Individually, yes," I agreed, jump rolling forward out of a fire blast's explosion. "But together, you can do it."

Every Raven seemed to get the message, and got in a circle around the original. Anger noticed, and turned to them. I realized this was my chance. Quickly, I jumped up onto her hand. Before she could react, I sped up her arm, and reached her forehead. I then focused my Dreamer powers. I opened myself up to everything around me: I felt the Ravens merge, the ground we were on, the red glows in the distance, and Anger. Focusing, I reached though Anger's forehead jewel and grabbed what I wanted. Slowly, the dark power within her was brought to the surface.

"**Anger cannot be destroyed!**" She yelled. Since I was on her face, she seemed louder, and I smelled her bad breath. However, I didn't let that break my focus. With another tug, my hand cleared Anger's skin, pure Darkness in its grasp. As a precaution, I called up my own Darkness to shield me from it as I tugged.

Anger noticed what I was doing. "**If you fight me, then you shall taste my fury!**" Quickly, her power spread up my arm, trying to get to me. However, I willed my own Darkness to spread with it, one step ahead.

However, my dual focus made me start to loose my grip on her power. "Raven, any time now!" I called out. Turning my head, I saw what I hoped for. Raven, in white, standing as tall as Anger. "Grab it, take it from her!" She understood, and plunged her hand forward. With quick timing, I leapt back onto her arm, and she grabbed the Darkness before it could retreat.

With her size and combined strength, Raven easily tore Anger's powers from her, and absorbed it herself. With a cry that began to fade, Anger diminished. Soon, she was a red-cloaked Raven with red eyes, standing at Raven's normal height. I jumped down to stand in front of her. With a cry of fury, she tried to send a fire blast at me. However, nothing happened.

"Can we talk now?" I asked. All I got from her was a hiss. "I wanted to thank you."

That caught every Raven still there by surprise. "Thank her?" "_Thank me?_" they repeated. Anger's voice was lower, but not quite back to normal. As Raven said that, she returned to her normal appearance, and the Emoticlones were released. Some of them made to leave.

"Love, Worry, please stay," I asked, before turning back to Anger. "Yes. I wanted to thank you. Do you remember what happened last night? Why did you come out?"

"_Doctor Light_" she spat that name, "_had hurt you and my teammates!_"

"And with your strength to support hers," I continued, "Raven was able to beat him."

"Kana..." Raven whispered behind me.

"And what about the night we first met?" I continued. "With the Gordanian? Were you there?"

"_... Yes..._" she admitted.

"But did you come loose?" I prodded.

"_... No..._"

"Why were you there?"

"_You, and the team, were about to die!_" she declared.

"And that is a healthy anger," I declared. Anger lost her snarl when I said that. "The only times you came out were when Raven and her friends were in trouble. You provided the motivation, and the power, to protect us. That's why I wanted to thank you."

Nobody in Raven's mind thought to answer me. "Every emotion has a purpose," I told her. "Every aspect of Raven can be great and beautiful, if properly applied and portioned. Worry, what did I teach you?"

She jumped a bit at being put on the spotlight. "... It's OK to be worry about your mistakes, as long as you learn from them." Raven was surprised at the answer.

"Love, how about you?" I asked.

She had to think for a second. "Love shouldn't be for everybody. It should be shared with those closest to you, and be built from a strong friendship."

"Do you see?" I asked Anger. "Both of them admitted that they don't have to be extreme, can be part of a whole, and help Raven become better. They don't have to dominate Raven, and Raven doesn't have to fear them. Anger, can you support Raven as well? No more dominance, no more cages? Help her stand up to enemies for her friends."

Anger thought about it for awhile. As she thought, her eyes were closed. However, when they opened, I saw they were different. They still had red pupils, but were human. "I... I can try..."

"Then lets go to Raven," I took her hand. She flinched at first, but accepted it. I walked her over to her original. "Raven," I asked, "do you have reasons to be angry?"

"Of course," Raven agreed.

"That's normal," I told her. "You don't have to hide your anger or frustration. But you can't let it control you either. Can you accept Anger, like you accepted the others earlier?" Raven didn't move. "Don't forget, we sucked Anger's power from her. She can't do anything against you now, maybe for a long time."

Raven stared at Anger. "I kept you locked up for a long time. But... I guess I can try too." She then walked up to Anger. It was awkward for both of them, but they hugged. Slowly, Anger's face lost all emotion, then she faded into Raven.

"You are finally at peace with your anger," I spoke up, walking up to her. "How does it feel?"

She turned around to face me, her face furrowed. "You've kept secrets from me!"

That kind of surprised me. She took Anger in a little too well. "Heartless are drawn to the Keyblade. If I summoned it, and used it often, then those dark creatures would swarm Titans Tower, Jump City, and this whole world."

That got her to calm down a bit, if only because she was curious. "This world? Are you from another?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "I'm human though, just from another Earth. Besides, am I the only one keeping my past secret from the Titans?"

Raven gave me a cool look, then calmed down. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be," I forgave her. "Some things need a level of trust, or friendship, before they're shared." Suddenly, Raven stumbled forward. I caught her, and saw a bit of a blush on Raven's face. I looked beyond her; Love was standing with a goofy grin on her face. "Did you have to do that?"

"Why not?" Love asked, blissfully waltzing by herself. "You faced Anger together and won! Now, the love between you will strengthen!"

"Raven," I turned to her, helping her get up. "While you have to accept your emotions, you don't have to be ruled by them."

"I know," she replied. She then started walking off. "The door out's over here."

"Then lets meet back up in the real world," I followed her. "Anger, can you hear me?"

She appeared to my left. "Yes Kana?" I noted she now had a normal voice.

"Please keep the other emotions in line," I requested of her. "Especially Love. Don't let anybody take things further than Raven wants."

"Will do!" Anger promised. It was nice to see her calmed down.

"Love, Worry," I turned to them, "don't let Anger do anything rash."

"Sure Kana!" "Okay..." they responded. With their parting promises, I stepped through the door.

I found myself back in Raven's room, with her. Quickly, she put the mirror away. "What happened in there stays in there."

"In other words," I clarified, "you don't mention Keyblades and other Earths, and I don't mention your multiple personalities and demon father."

"Exactly," Raven agreed. "... Oh, and thanks. For... being there when I needed you."

"You're welcome. And everyone else would have helped too," I told her, "if they knew how." As I said that, I noticed my adrenaline rush run out, and collapsed on the floor.

"Kana!" Raven exclaimed. She knealed down and cradled my head.

"I guess Love and Worry are working together with you," I noted. That made her smile before she caught and composed herself. "Don't worry. It took a lot out of me to pull out Anger's powers. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep." I tried to stand up, but was still a bit wobbly. "Mind taking me back to my room?"

Raven helped me up to my feet, and started walking me to the door. However, we could hear somebody on the other side. "Please friends, we must help our friend Raven!" Starfire cried

"Raven wants to be left alone!" Robin struggled to say.

"Dude's right!" Cyborg spoke up, his mechanics whirring loudly.

"Looks like the rest of the team was worried too," I whispered. "Want to let them in to see you, or scare them out?"

Raven thought about it for a second. "Lets meet them, outside my room."

"That sounds good," I agreed. Together, we stepped out to meet the concerned team.

* * *

**And that's how you stop a demon.**

**This story is getting nowhere near the amount of notice I was hoping for. I know it'll be a very slow start, but I hope to have a story longer and richer than Sage Mode and Magic, and with more action. So please show some appreciation.**

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**Until next time!**

**AnonymousGX**


	6. Switched

**I was in the middle of making a Nuzlocke when I realized that _writing_ it would be harder than _drawing _it. In chapters, time skips are harder to do unless they occur at the end of a chapter. Also, since Pokemon is more action based, detailing what happens in paragraph form is harder to do than two or three panels of cartoons.**

**I then considered making it into a comic. I have a Deviantart account (which I need to update...), so uploading it isn't a problem. Unfortunately, my drawing skills aren't very good. So, just in case I ever want to try it again, I scrapped my original game's runthrough and switched to another; a game where the Pokemon sprites were more available to trace.**

**But enough on that, here comes the story:**

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_I was in the middle of a dark forest, with no idea of where I was. After looking around, I decided to climb a tree, to see if I could spot a landmark. As I climbed, I noticed a section of the tree seemed distorted and discolored. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was actually a fabric. "Hey you!" I shouted._

_With a startled cry, the person within jumped up. Unfortunately, there wasn't much room to move on the branch, and the mysterious person began to slide off. Acting quickly, I grabbed the person's hand, preventing a nasty fall. "Where'd you come from?" I was asked._

_"Ohhhhh... down there," I pointed._

_"I mean, how'd you sneak up on me like that?"_

_"I wasn't sneaking," I insisted. "I didn't know you were there until I almost climbed up you."_

_"That's because I'm a great ninja!"_

_"Indeed," I said sarcastically, and continued my ascent._

_"Wait, where are you going?"_

_"To scout out a town. I'm out of food and money, and thought that if I found work, I could earn some."_

_"Aw mannn..." I stared at the moan. "I mean, that's too bad. I know where a town is. I can lead you there, if you want."_

_"Thanks! My name is Kana, by the way."_

_"Hello Kana, by the way," the person grinned. "My name is..."_

_Without warning, the sky began to flame up. Destruction rained down on the forest. "Kana!" I heard a shout, and turned to see my guide try to escape the flames. Unfortunately, they caught up, and burned my new companion, before reaching me._

I awoke with a shout. Ever since I visited Raven's mind, I began having nightmares about the Dream World. They were starting to let up, but I was afraid they may return and show me stuff I really didn't want to live through again. Since it was already sun-up, I got ready for the day.

This morning, it was Beast Boy's turn to cook. However, Robin and myself found the kitchen empty, and our stomach's rumbling. "Kana," Robin spoke up. "Have you seen Beast Boy or Cycborg?"

"Not since yesterday," I remembered. "Didn't they leave for that Mega-Monkey world championship?"

"They should have returned by now," Robin thought out loud.

"Well, we don't know how long the tournament will take," I offered. "We also don't know if they're still in the brackets."

"No matter what their excuse is," Robin started heading for the garage, "we should bring them home."

I decided to join him. After a couple hour's drive, we arrived at the tournament. Sure enough, Beast Boy and Cyborg were fighting in the semifinals. Robin's presence, however, startled them. Even if he hadn't pulled them off the consoles, the fright was enough to give their opponents the advantage. Needless to say, the duo were upset, and vocalized it all the way home.

Even when we arrived at the Tower, Beast Boy was chewing out our ears. "And did you notice who I was playing against? It was GIZMO! I wasn't just playing, I was defeating a member of the HIVE! And you let them win!"

"Like I said, Beast Boy," Robin growled. "That. Was just. A GAME! What if Jump City was under attack while you were gone?"

"Dude, we could have rushed back," Cyborg spoke up.

"And nothing happened!" Beast Boy insisted. "And look at this..." On the front door, a crate rested. "We got some more fan mail!"

"Lets open it up inside," Cyborg suggested.

At first, I wasn't worried. We got fan service pretty often. However, when I saw Starfire bothering Raven's meditation, I knew what was going on. Sure enough, when the box was opened, six marionettes were revealed, resting on a bunch of hay which took up over half the box.

"Look everybody!" Starfire curiously toyed with her puppet. "It's a miniature duplicate of myself. What purpose does such a contraption possess?"

"You can make shows, or play with them, like this," Beast Boy demonstrated by kicking Robin's puppet on the rump, using his own. "Check it, my puppet is totally kicking your puppet's butt!"

"Not for long!" Robin accepted the challenge, and his puppet made moves to counterattack. Their enthusiasm made them bump Cyborg's puppet, who joined the brawl.

"Friend Kana," Starfire held out my puppet. "Would you not join us and our miniature duplicates in this fight of show?"

I grabbed my puppet from her by the strings. "No thanks. I'd rather put this in a display case. It looks too lifelike to break." Satisfied with that reason, Star tried to convince Raven to join. However, Raven meditated with her puppet. As they did so, I left the room. Instead of a display cabinet, I went down to our basement storage, and put my puppet away down there.

That night, I didn't sleep. I was waiting, swords under the sheets. When I was about to fall asleep, I heard wooden steps. As my door slid open, I grabbed my weapons and leapt for the intruder. Before me, was a little wooden man; the Puppet King. He saw my approach and stepped back. "I would not do that if I were you..." he warned me.

"And why not?" I continued my advance, forcing him to step away.

"Because I have your friends," he smiled. With little warning, Beast Boy and Robin jumped out from behind me, pinning my arms. "They are my puppets, and soon, you will be."

"Kana!" Starfire's voice spoke up. From behind the Puppet King, Cyborg stepped forward, eyes glowing blue, holding both Starfire and Raven in his arms.

The Puppet King held up our marionette's, gazing at them. "This one hasn't been played with... I guess I will take you two." He turned towards the girls, holding out his controller. As he did so, I noticed that it had 6 slots, 4 of which were glowing. "With your bodies, I shall defeat the final Teen Titan and take over this city."

"Azarath... Metrion..." Raven struggled to finish her spell, "Zin-thos..." Barely finishing in time, her magic blasted everybody away. The Puppet King lost hold of his controller after their spirits began to enter it, and it spun. Due to how it landed, as well as magical interference, the spirits of the girls returned, but to the wrong bodies. As they connected, I charged forward, grabbing both of them and hurrying to a nearby large hidden trap door. Thanks to Robin's security concerns, he installed escape tunnels on each floor, but they could only be used by a Titan without activating the alarms or protective systems.

"Friend Kana?" Starfire spoke up. Quickly, I covered her mouth with my hand.

"Not now," I whispered. "We have to get out of here." Quietly, we went down the tunnel, our communicators emitting a disabling signal to the dark tunnel. Soon, we cleared the tower and were under the bay. "I think we're safe for now," I turned to them. "Raven, your spell almost worked. However... there was a slight problem."

"What do you mean, slight?" Raven repeated.

"Starfire, don't scream," I warned, raising my hands together. "Fire." The tunnel was illuminated by my spell. In front of me, Raven and Starfire's bodies looked at each other. However, the voices coming from them didn't match.

"Raven?" Raven's body asked.

"Great..." Starfire's body moaned.

I cancelled the spell. "You two switched bodies." Starfire, in Raven's body, began to speak up, but I cut her off. "If you want to switch back, we probably need that guy's controller."

"So lets go back and get it," Raven, in Starfire's body, said. Starfire was too busy gawking at the change.

"Knowing him, he's looking for us," I told her. "We vanished from the tower, and he wants to take over the city. Most likely, he'll be out there, with his puppet Titans on the lookout for us."

"Then lets go find him," Raven agreed.

As we walked, Starfire began to worry about the predicament. "This is among the worst days I have ever had!"

"Look at the bright side," I spoke up.

"What would this side of light be?" Starfire asked.

"Don't take this the wrong way," I warned her, "but it would be very awkward if I switched with one of you, for both of us."

As Starfire continued to fret, Raven spoke up. "Why didn't he try to take you?"

"He said that my puppet didn't have as much playtime as yours," I recalled. "But why would that be important?"

"When the Titans captured us," Raven remembered, "they weren't using their normal fighting style."

"Maybe they could only do moves we taught our puppets," I theorized, throwing a couple fake karate chops.

"Indeed," Raven concurred. "Since you didn't play with yours, you wouldn't make an ideal puppet."

By this time, Starfire finished her rant. Luckily, her powers were either safely activating or permanently disabling the traps behind us. "But why was he unable to transfer all three of our souls into a miniature duplicate of ourselves?"

"Maybe he can only control a certain amount, and I was one too many," I speculated. By this time, we reached the city. "I think we should split up," I told them. "Raven, Starfire, go together and teach each other how to use, and control, each other's powers. I'll look around on my own."

"But if we are divided," Starfire spoke up, "what shall we do should we discover that puppet villain or our friends?"

"Use our communicators," I pulled mine out. "Happy searching!"

As they moved out, I took a side route, staying underground. I was pretty sure where the Puppet King would hide for the ceremony, but I had no idea where it was in the city. I was planning to get there early, and surprise him. If he thought it was only Raven and Starfire on the loose, I could be an unknown factor.

After a few minutes of my fruitless search, my communicator beeped. Raven, in Starfire's body, had sent me her coordinates. Moving quickly, I returned to the sewers and ran towards their location. When I managed to catch up to them, I was hoping that the Puppet King would be there, and I could ambush him. However, I was a little late for that. "At least I am still capable of flight!" Starfire's voice greeted me through the sewer lid as I exited. Her control over Raven's powers were slipping; an aura of darkness surrounded her, tweaking every little thing in its range. "Any Tamaranean, even when he or she is newly born, can feel the joy of flight. But you are unable to feel anything, and remain rude and self absorbed!"

"Cool it Starfire!" I told her, letting them know I was there.

However, they seemed to ignore me. "Have you seen yourself? You have no control over my powers. If I let myself feel like you do, I would have destroyed the tower on the first day. Even with my body, you don't understand anything."

Starfire calmed down at this point. "Then I guess... we should share. So that we can understand, and control the powers of each other."

Raven agreed, and we all sat down. "I was born in a place called Azarath," Raven began. "It's a realm where everybody could control their auras to influence their surroundings."

"Like magic?" Starfire asked.

"... Sure, magic," Raven continued. "It was... wonderful. However, my... magic was dark. I could feel everybody judging me for who I was. So I left, in order to control myself, and so I can use my powers without people thinking bad about me. That's when I met the team."

Hearing how Raven was practically banished by her own people's discrimination made Starfire visibly sad and sympathetic. "Before I joined the Titans," Starfire took her turn, "I was... of high birth on my homeworld, Tamaran. It is a glorious planet, but... barren, when compared to Earth. As I was raised, I learned how to fight, and how to use my powers. However, our planet was attacked by the Gordanians. After five year cycles of fighting, Tamaran managed to repel them, but I was captured."

"You've been in war for that long?" Raven clarified, "Yet you are still... joyful?"

"Indeed!" Starfire almost cheered. "Even if something bad happened in the past, the future can always bring something new to smile towards." Raven almost smiled at her optimism, but soon returned to almost frowning. Starfire then looked at me. "Kana, it is your turn to tell the tale of your past."

"Me?" I was surprised. "I thought this was about learning to control each other's powers."

"We revealed our pasts," Raven agreed with Starfire, "it's fair you do the same."

"... Fine," I relented, sitting down with them. "Not long ago, I was an average person. However, a great wizard, named Yen Sid, teleported me to his office. He told me he was looking for a new apprentice, and I was the best qualified candidate. He gave me some abilities, then put me through... a simulation, where the world was going to be destroyed. I thought I failed, but he had a secret objective which I passed."

"You... failed to protect the world?" Starfire gasped.

"But I learned the true lesson through that failure," I assured her, "and won't make the same mistake. However, he thinks I need more training with comrades. So he sent me here to learn on my own for some time."

"I haven't heard of this... Yen Sid," Raven pondered.

"You shouldn't have," I told her truthfully. "Even where I come from, few know him, and much less by name."

"How long will you train with us before you must return?" Starfire asked.

"I'm not sure..." I admitted. "He's wants one or two more apprentices, and I'm looking for people who qualify."

"Once you found them, you'll leave?" Raven asked, some concern on her, or Starfire's, face.

"Most likely," I agreed. "But I may stay a bit longer to take care of any important business. Like a villain bent on conquering or destroying the world, or being forced to do Beast Boy's laundry after a week of negligence."

Starfire laughed at the latter example. It may not sound like much, but Beast Boy loved to transform, even when in the tower. However, his clothing quickly picks up the stench of whatever animal, or animals, he turns into. So, in order to seem clean, he goes through laundry faster than the rest of us combined. In contrast to Starfire, Raven looked downcast by my statement. I hoped my hint wasn't too obvious, but I wanted her to know I'd be there for her in the future.

"We'd better get going," I stood up. "Whatever ceremony that guys has planned, we should stop it as soon as possible. Anybody know where he's hiding?"

"Probably," Raven said. "He said his name was the Puppet King, and that the stage must be set for the ceremony."

"And as a puppeteer, and a villain," I finished, "he likely meant that literally and is hiding in an abandoned theater. Is there one in this city?"

"I know one," Raven led the way. "My poetry club goes there for its atmosphere."

Luckily, it was only a block away. Glancing around the corner, I saw Beast Boy in Doberman form, ears upright. "Unless Beast Boy cut his ears in half," I remembered my dog facts, "we got a natural guard dog in green."

Starfire turned to Raven. "You must fly us to the roof with unbridled joy."

"I don't do... Joy," Raven delayed.

Starfire then began listing off things Starfire found joy in. However, I had a better idea. "I know somebody that does," I hinted, poking her forehead. Raven understood; her Emotion Clones would have to help. With a sigh, she meditated, opening herself up to her closed off emotions. Soon, she was smiling, and began to float. Taking both myself and Starfire by the hand, she easily and swiftly lifted us up to the roof.

"Wonderful friend Raven!" Starfire almost clapped, but caught herself before Raven's powers could freak out. "Of what did you think to find such joy?"

After some more prodding, Raven thought of an excuse. "I was thinking about... you being quiet." That made Starfire gloomy.

"Round 2, a rusty lock," I pointed out. "Starfire's turn."

"Focus on the lock," Raven told her. "Imagine what you want it to do. Then say the words."

"Wait Starfire," I said. "Just in case you overdo it, we should probably make sure the trap door doesn't blast open and make noise."

With a silent agreement, Raven and I sat on the doors. "Azarath Metrion..." Starfire concentrated. "Zinthos." With ease, the lock clicked open, and I removed it. "I did it!" Sure enough, her emotional outburst caused the doors to rattle. However, due to our weight, they remained still with little noise made.

Quietly, we descended. Once we reached the catwalk, I motioned them down one path. "You two first," I offered. "Try to attract the Puppet King's attention, as well as the Titans Puppets. I'll go around and take him out."

"Good plan," Raven agreed. She took to the air, leading Starfire on a more direct approach to the Puppet King. Stealthily, I walked to the catwalk stairs, leading the way to the stage floor. Sure enough, the Puppet King noticed the girls.

"You two are too late," he claimed. "Soon I will have the bodies of your friends as my own, and I shall rule Jump City through them." With that, he sent all three Titan Puppets after them.

Unnoticed, I continued my descent. Once I reached the bottom, I noticed the Puppet King taking the Titan marionettes to a sacrificial pyre in a small bowl. Rushing from the wing, my sprint overtook his. With little effort, I snatched the marionettes from his arms. "Not so fast, Puppet King," I taunted.

"Give them back!" he demanded. However, I stepped away. "Bring those puppets to me, my puppets!"

Seeing all three Titans turn to me, I admit I got nervous. "Starfire!" I called out. "Keep them safe!" Thankfully, her control was enough to lift them away from danger. Cyborg and Robin, as land-based fighters, were unable to follow. However, Beast Boy shifted into an eagle. Raven swooped down to intercept him.

With the puppets safely out of my reach, Robin and Cyborg turned to the stairs. "Freeze!" I cast. The chunks of ice hit, but only Cyborg froze.

"Bring the puppets to me, quickly!" Puppet King repeated, holding up the controller.

"Wind!" I cried. With precision, I hit the controller, making it twist and fly out of his grasp. As he gawked, I looked it over. "Stop!" I commanded. Sure enough, the three Titans stopped moving. I then examined the controller. "Six lights, six titans, five puppets?" I summarized.

"My controller!" Puppet King exclaimed, running for me.

"Let me guess," I ran around him, holding it out of his reach. "The sixth light is to give yourself life."

"Return it to me!" the Puppet King cried out, trying to chase me. However, his legs weren't well designed for running, and I easily kept away from him.

Soon, I was near his ceremonial fire. "I'd rather return my friends to normal, by destroying this!" I dropped the controller into the fire, which released a small wave of fire. It ascended, and released the souls of all my companions. As a bonus, Starfire and Raven's souls returned to their own bodies. However, the Puppet King didn't have such luck. He began to shudder, then fell, lifeless.

"Dude, is it over?" Cyborg asked.

"I think so..." I pondered. "You three released your souls when the Puppet King's controller was destroyed. In contrast, nothing was released from him. He's gone."

"Or somebody else created him," Robin theorized, "to do his work while he remained anonymous. Then that man can bring him to life again."

"So..." Beast Boy clarified, "no more playing with puppets?"

"No more puppets," I agreed.

Above us, Starfire was hugging Raven, and took Cyborg and Beast Boy, as a gorilla, with crowbars to get Raven freed. When we got home, it was still late, so we decided to get some rest. However, soon after getting into my PJs, I heard a knock at my door. "Raven," I greeted, after opening the door, "what's up?"

"It's about..." Raven struggled to find words, "Yen Sid. You said he wanted other apprentices. May I be one?"

"Just a second." I went back to my desk drawer, opening it and pulling out a familiar item. "This compass is enchanted. Those it points to, with a glow, can join my apprenticeship."

I held it out, unopened, to Raven. Gingerly, she took it from me and, after a delay, opened it. However, the compass lay lifeless. "I guess..." she handed it back, "I'm not qualified."

"I'm not exactly sure what he's looking for," I took it from her, "but he said one requirement. A potential apprentice must have a completed fate." Hearing this, Raven quickly turned around. "Raven," I took her shoulder, then stood in front of her. "I want you to join me. Really, I do. If you know your fate, let me help you reach it."

Raven pulled away, heading out my door. "If I fulfilled my destiny, you wouldn't want me as a fellow apprentice,even if I survived." With her powers, she closed the door behind her.

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**And the tension rises. Raven, according to my poll, is the most popular future companion guess. Lets see if they got it right.**

**Important Review Responses: none? Thanks for the positive feedback though!**

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**AnonymousGX**


	7. Masks

**I got somebody working on a cover for this! :D**

**This may seem long, but there may be some people who don't know KH and are in this for the Teen Titans (I originally did that for any X-Over involving Naruto...). Also, the explanation that extends this chapter felt right. That, and I may want to include one or two of the things Kana pointed out, and I'm covering my bases.**

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As the weeks went by, we all noticed a change in Robin. While he could focus if given a mission, any other time his interest in Deathstroke would rise. By this time, he was almost paranoid. Only one more thing could make it worse; an actual visit from him.

And that visit came at just the right moment. While we were relaxing with a movie, Robin ran in. "Titans! Go!" As we made our way to the front door, Robin filled us in. "A tip told me that Deathstroke wants a computer chip, and his hired goons will try to steal it tonight."

"Stakeout again?" Cyborg lamented. "Dude, the last three Deathstroke tips didn't turn up anything."

"I'm not missing out on any chances," Robin almost growled, getting into our ride.

Once there, Robin got us clearance to enter on guard duty. The city liked us that much. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long. Minutes after we were in position, a lone figure, wearing a black mask with an orange circle for a face, walked in, moving to take a red computer chip. Without warning, Robin swung in, kicking the thief in the chest and knocking him back. "If Deathstroke wants this chip," Robin announced, "he'll have to get through me first!"

We then heard a laser above us. From there, a hole was made, releasing more Deathstroke thugs for us to fight. However, my senses weren't picking anything up from them. "Raven," I asked, pulling out my staff, "do you sense what I do?"

She took a moment to reach out with her powers. "They... they're all robots."

"Then lets kick their cans!" Cyborg raised his arm cannon.

"Dude," Beast Boy groaned, "don't tell me you made that pun on purpose."

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven cried, releasing waves of energy upon the robots. When the energy connected with them, it focused on their joints. However, the metal was stronger than other robots we fought and wouldn't unhinge. Seeing her powers have no effect, Raven got nervous as one approached.

"Cover me from lasers," I told her, moving to intercept her assailant. Finding our comfortable team-up, we began to hold the ground directly around the targeted chip, preventing any of Deathstroke's robots from getting close.

Meanwhile, Robin had already begun fighting with two of the robots. One was hand-to-hand, the other was using a laser gun which Robin was dodging simultaneously. Cyborg was more than strong enough to hold them off, if he managed to intercept them with their higher speed. Beast Boy was fighting random enemies across the room, occasionally helping others. Starfire was in the air, but her starbolts were only annoyances to these machines, which had rocket boots that allowed them to race after her.

At first, it seemed like a battle we were slowly winning. However, with so much chaos around the room, Raven and I weren't sure where to look, if we had a moment to relax. Then, three robots came our way. I clashed with one while Raven flung the other two together. Unfortunately, they were only the distraction; a fourth robot dropped from above, disengaging from Starfire as he entered and exited the counter-gravity beam. "He's got the chip!" I pointed out, alerting the other Titans.

"Not for long!" Robin made to move for it. However, the robots began to interweave, passing the chip between them. Once we lost track of it, the robots scattered, heading for both the main door and their entrance hole. "Titans, scatter!" Robin, Cyborg, and myself went afoot after them, while Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy flew through the ceiling's hole.

Making sure to hide the content of their hands, the robots began to spread throughout the facility, branching off. Cyborg managed to blast one or two at each turn he took, but he was soon separated from us to chase down a splinter group. At another branch, Raven broke off, leaving me, Robin, and two more robots.

To our surprise, they stopped at a dead end. In explanation, one robot pulled out a laser and began to drill an exit. "No you don't!" Robin declared, leaping for it. The other robot ran to intercept, and the two clashed. "Kana, stop the other one!" Robin began to exchange blows with his opponent.

"On it!" I charged. The robot didn't even turn to look at me. But I noticed something on the floor. Part of his shadow was crawling towards me. "No..." I breathed out. My fears were confirmed. The thing expanded from the floor, becoming a black creature with a childlike hunched body, a large circular head and yellow eyes.

"What is it?" Robin heard me, but was too distracted by his fight to look.

"Heartless!" I identified, almost reaching out for my Keyblades. However, I thought about it again. If it was a stronger species, I wouldn't hesitate to use them. But Shadows were among the most basic Heartless to handle. So I instead reached for my swords, and got my magic ready.

The Heartless, considering my pause, got the first move and tried to swipe at me. Instead, I gave it a blade to paw, and it recoiled in pain. Taking the advantage, I raised my arm. "Fire! Blizzard! Thunder!" The quick onslaught of spells were more effective than my blade could be in that timeframe. With no time to recover from a spell and retreat into the floor, the Heartless was hit hard and vanished in a puff of dark smoke.

That nuisance out of the way, I turned to the drill robot. He was halfway done, but I was ready for him. "Thunder!" With the last of my magic, I shorted out his laser. Before he could turn, I drove my blade into his back. I didn't pierce it very far, but I did manage to sever a wire. This robot was unable to use its lower body, and toppled over. Another two slices, and the machine powered off.

Robin, however, left his robot intact, but defeated. He reached into his robot's hand. "We got the chip back."

"Excellent work, Robin," a voice emanated from Robin's foe. The faceplate popped off, revealing a computer screen with the real Deathstroke. "You are improving. Perhaps soon, we should meet, in person."

"Tell me where you're holed up, and I'll show you how much I want to see you!"

However, Deathstroke's robot turned its head, and its screen, to me. "Interesting. So those creatures are called Heartless? You seem familiar with them."

"You don't get to hear anything from me unless it's face to face," I retorted.

"Maybe, I should have chosen you, that day with the Fire Golem..." Deathstroke's screen went dark. In anger, Robin crushed it, then started heading back to the building's entrance. I remembered that day. Thunder and Lightning liked my elemental abilities. After the golem was made, Deathstroke seemed to goad both of us to take him on, but only Robin ran for him.

Speaking of Robin... "Robin!" I called after him. "We still have to return the chip!" His response, however, was to throw it back to me and continue walking out. At that point, I began to sense something off about him. Darkness was entering him. That made me worry; Deathstroke's plan could backfire, and turn Robin into a Heartless, if he, and I weren't careful. Robin was so angry, he didn't think to ask about the Heartless.

Robin surprised me the next day. I didn't know he was able to build a supersuit that fast. Then again, it may have been a long term project. But by the next night, we got an alert from the same tech facility for the same robbery, and Robin made an excuse not to be there. Due to how far away it was, Raven transported us there with her powers. It still wasn't a preferred mode of transport, but everybody could tolerate it. We landed on the roof, soon before a masked, caped villain appeared.

"Let me guess," I looked at his forehead. "Red X?"

"Indeed," was the reply.

"Dude, try to be more original," Cyborg began blasting.

Red X was able to dodge and flip over every beam sent his way. He finished behind the assailant. "Is your name original?" Red X retorted, using an X to open Cyborg's back. With a couple touches, Cyborg went down, his robotic limbs offline.

Beast Boy charged in next, as a cheetah. When he leaped, Red X slid under, blasting him with a Goo X. He was completely covered."Beast Boy!" I ran over to him. "Freeze." That spell froze some of the goo. Then, with a blow from my staff, I shattered it, releasing Beast Boy's head. Slowly, I began freezing the rest of it, while Beat Boy tried to morph something big enough to stretch it thin.

"Azarath..." was as far as Raven got before she was gagged. With most of the team defeated, and nobody focusing on him, Red X fled, computer chip in hand. After freeing Beast Boy, rewiring Cyborg, and removing Raven's gag, we made our way back to the Tower.

After a couple hours, Robin showed up, and we gave him the mission report. Afterwards, he started for his Deathstroke Cave. "Robin," I followed him in. "We need to talk." Robin didn't react to my intrusion. "I know about your plan."

"What plan?" Robin didn't look up.

"To pretend to be a villain named Red X."

That made him turn around and look at me. "How did you know?"

"I'm sensitive to Darkness, remember?" I reminded him. "But even without it, I know your moves, your height, your bodytype... Add palm blast weapons, and Red X is a perfect match to you. Second, what's the chance that a person, unrelated to Deathstroke or the Titans, would go after the same piece of hardware he did, if the Titan's were the only ones who knew about the attempted theft? Not to mention, your voice scrambler could use some work, even if you are lowering your voice down half an octave."

"I didn't think to include a voice scrambler..." Robin admitted.

"Robin," I wasn't sure how much to say, nor how to say it. "If I figured it out, do you think Deathstroke did as well?"

"That's a chance I'll have to risk," Robin was determined.

"Robin, please think," I continued. "First, he sends the HIVE to annoy us. Then he does these smaller crimes with seemingly no pattern or ultimate, combined purpose." Looking over his walls, Robin had to agree. "What if this isn't about a thing? What if it's about you?"

Robin stared at me for that. "Think about it. First, Gizmo drops his name. Then, various crimes occur, and he takes an interest in you over the rest of us. Then, two nights ago, he said that he could have chosen me instead of you. Also, your heart is being tainted by Darkness. Enough for some Heartless to show up."

"If what you say is true," Robin pondered, "what does he want with me?"

"I can't say," I said truthfully. "Maybe he wants to use your Darkness to bring more powerful Heartless to Jump City. It that's his game, you have to drop your anger, and obsession, of him to beat him. Whether or not that's his plan, go over what he did, or said, to you. Maybe a clue to his purpose is in there."

"... Maybe," Robin agreed. "... What exactly is a Heartless?"

"I think I should explain it to everyone at once," I suggested. "Want to call a team meeting?"

"Red X remains a secret," Robin cut me off from the door.

"For now," I agreed. "Until he's ready to meet Deathstroke, and will need backup. We should tell the team then. But while we're on the subject, make false copies of whatever he took for Deathstroke."

"I already did," Robin confirmed, heading out and organizing the meeting. He gave me a couple minutes head start, so I could sketch out some pictures to show them.

Once everybody was seated in front of the TV, I began. "What I'm about to tell you is on a need-to-know basis. Keep it secret except in an emergency involving said secret." I waited a few seconds to get their promises of silence. "When Robin and I chased down the robot with the chip, it had an ally." I pulled up my sketch of a Shadow onto the screen.

"Dude, a baby in a black costume?" Beast Boy poked fun at it. "Was it 'Bring your kid to villain work day'?"

"It's called a Heartless," I corrected him. "Darkness is an actual force, but is rare here. If a person falls to the Darkness, they vanish and lose their spiritual heart. Then, that heart become corrupted, taking on a dark form; a Heartless. Heartless resist many weapons, but magic, or magical weapons, have a stronger effect on them."

"Woah..." Cyborg was speechless.

"What you see here is a Shadow, one of the most basic known Heartless. However, there are other, more powerful Heartless." I pulled up a slide with a Darkball, a NeoShadow, and a Darkseid, all with appropriate human scaling. "These are examples of Pure Heartless. Each has three traits for identification. First, their eyes always glow yellow, except in a powerful case or two. Second, along with their size, their body colors hint at their strength. Black is basic, then blue, purple, and red. Third, while most are various dark beings, others can possess or imitate inanimate objects, keeping their glowing yellow eyes."

I clicked to the next slide, showing a Heartless Emblem, a Yellow Opera, a Fat Bandit, and a Wyvern. "Another category of Heartless are the Emblem Heartless. These ones are all identified by the crest, usually on their chest, here." I pointed it out. "Among them, all are dangerous except two." I switched the slide, showing blue and ivory enemies. "If anybody sees this White Mushroom, let me know immediately. They are practically immortal, but don't want to battle. If you try, you'll only upset them. What they want is to receive certain magic spells, most of which I know. If cast correctly and promptly, it will be satisfied and destroy itself safely. As for the Rare Truffle, it's an immortal pacifist as well. You want to keep it bouncing in the air by attacking it. 100 bounces, or attacks, without it touching the ground is the target goal, so any more will not make it any more satisfied."

The slide show was over, and the screen went black. "Any questions?"

Beast Boy looked like he was trying to shape-shift into a Heartless to the side, but was failing. Robin just glared, analyzing what I told them. Cyborg seemed interested, but nodded his understanding. Starfire, however, spoke up. "In all the galaxies, there are no creatures with likenesses such as these. Are you sure they are all real?"

"Before I came here," I told her, "I was training to defeat them. I assure you, they are real. Robin saw the Shadow that was with Deathstroke's robot."

"Kana's telling the truth," Robin confirmed.

"Dude..." Beast Boy was reeling at that confirmation.

"If that's everything..." I waited for another question. "... Class dismissed."

Later that day, Robin came to me, alone. "I'm going after Deathstroke's next item."

"As our new acquaintance?" I clarified.

"Yes," he agreed. "I'm going to use a hologram of myself to fool Deathstroke. If he sees both Robin and Red X, it may dispel any ideas of us being one and the same."

"That could work..." I thought about it. "Why are you telling me?"

"I'll catch the hologram," Robin revealed. "He'll tell you to go after me. You alone should disobey and try to release him."

"I get it," I told him, heading for the door. "Good luck."

Sure enough, Red X struck within the hour. As the Titans made our way there, we saw Robin chasing him before getting caught. "Robin!" Starfire yelled.

"I'm fine, get X, go!" Robin yelled.

"No way," I played my role. "I'm getting you out."

"Go after X, that's an order!" Robin tried again.

"Titans!" I turned to them, "Don't let him get away! We'll be right behind you!" With some hesitation, the rest of the team sped after him. "They're gone," I told the hologram, "what now?"

Robin seemed to guess I'd need help. The holographic net vanished from around him. "Kana," the message continued, "I'm going to fight the Titans and escape. I'll dump the costume quickly and join you as Robin, to cover this trick. There's a ball projecting the holograph. Destroy it and come to the subway entrance. ... I'm fine, get X, go!"

The holograph seemed to be on a loop at this point, and had recreated the netting. Looking between his knees, I saw the ball. Pulling out my swords, I hacked it in two, dispelling the illusion. I picked up the pieces, then headed after the Titans. Before I got close, Robin appeared. Together, we charged into the tunnel, but the battle was over.

After dinner, Robin called me into his room. "Kana, the last object's tonight."

"Are you sure it's the last?" I confirmed. Robin nodded, then pulled out his plans for the night. I cut him off. "Then lets tell the team."

"Not now!" Robin disagreed.

"If this is the last one," I tried, "Deathstroke may be waiting for you there, or nearby. We'll tell them the plan. If he doesn't appear, I trust they can play their part. If he does, they won't fight you as well."

Robin thought it over. "... Alright..." he exhaled, heading for the door.

The Titans took the news better than I thought they would. "You were Red X!?" Cyborg shouted, before turning to me. "You knew!?"

"You're the one who ruined my 'Do'!" Beast Boy exclaimed, pointing to his hair.

"Have you heard of the Green Hornet?" I asked the team.

"Yes," Raven told us.

"The criminal?" Cyborg clarified.

"He's not a criminal, not really," I revealed. "I did my research. He acts like one to have close ties with the underground. Once he breaches their trust, he gift wraps them for the police, alongside any needed evidence of their crimes."

"He's like my mentor," Robin knew him too, "but a little more extreme." The Titans stared at him. "Deathstroke was helping, and allying himself, with many villains. I thought that if I became one, I could take him down like Green Hornet does."

After a few seconds, Raven spoke up. "That makes sense."

Cyborg and Beast Boy calmed down. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Cyborg asked.

"Would you have fought me so hard if you knew?" Robin asked them. Nobody denied it. "If I was to fool Deathstroke, I had to make it seem real."

"But why have you decided to make the reveal at this time?" Starfire still seemed a little sad.

"We planned to tell you when I, or Red X," Robin clarified, "was ready to meet Deathstroke. Red X is going to steal one last thing for him, tonight. However, Kana pointed out that he may appear during this theft. No matter what happens, I'll signal whether you should face me, or him."

"Like, removing your mask?" Beast Boy suggested?

"Sure," Robin agreed to that signal. "If I keep it on, don't hold back. I can take it."

"You've proven that twice," Raven agreed. "You better get going."

Robin left to prepare. After a second, Starfire ran after him. "Robin," I spoke softly to myself, "you'd better find a way to cheer her back up."

The charade was ready within an hour. We were to wait on the roof of the tech facility for Red X to appear, fight him hard, lose, then wait for Deathstroke to get into contact.

"What's taking the dude so long?" Beast Boy asked.

"He was supposed to be up here a minute ago..." Cyborg checked his forearm. "It's not like him to be late."

"Deathstroke might be in there!" I realized.

"Then let us join them!" Starfire got her super strength working, and tore her way through the roof.

Our loud entrance made any action in the room pause, giving us time to look around. Sure enough, Deathstroke's robots were almost crawling all over the place. There was a new type as well, which looked designed like a large slow brawler with pincer hands. In front of Red X, the man himself was there. However, I checked my senses. "I don't sense any Heartless, but that Deathstroke's a robot too!" I alerted everyone, including Red X.

"He has the chips!" Red X removed his mask, and slipped out of the costume, revealing Robin. "Titans, go!"

Without an object to protect, we did a much better job facing the robots. Slowly, we destroyed them one or two at a time. However, early on in the fight, Death-Bot fled, and Robin chased after him. "I'm going after Robin," I announced, chasing after them. "Follow when these guys are finished."

Hot on their tails, I followed them all the way to the roof, and across the building. We couldn't catch up to him easily, but the robot was leading us across rooftops. However, once we reached a Japanese building, the robot stopped, waiting for us.

"Robin," I said softly before we jumped. "Deathstroke must be nearby. That robot is operating wirelessly; the closer to the source, the stronger and faster the signal."

"I have a signal tracker in my belt," Robin told me.

"So we can track his location?" I asked.

"I need to put it directly on the robot," Robin warned.

"So I'm the battle bait," I agreed. "Lets go." Together, we ran for the edge and leapt off. Robin was swift, but didn't have as much momentum as I did. "Wind." My spell gave him the lift he needed, and both of us a soft landing. Once we touched down, and the spell dispersed, I charged for Deathstroke, swords glinting. Robin circled at a distance, throwing in smoke bombs and birdarangs.

"Interesting," Deathstroke commented, using an arm bracer to fend of a stroke. "I would have thought Robin would take me on directly."

He aimed a kick at my stomach. "Reflect." He hit my shield, and used it to jump back before it could retaliate. "Maybe I have just as much a reason to fight you as Robin."

"And what reason would that be?" Robin took the chance to throw an explosive, but Deathstroke dodge rolled towards me to avoid it. "Ah yes. You are familiar with those... Heartless."

"Their primal desire is to destroy the world and those on it," I answered, putting away my swords and engaging him with my staff. "Even if you think you can control them, they are slowing eating away at your heart."

"That warning would be appreciated," Deathstroke grabbed my downward swing, locking us together, "if my control over them wasn't complete."

"That's what Maleficent thought," I told him, pressing hard. "But even she was consumed, and reduced to an empty shell."

Two strokes came from behind Deathstroke, severing is arms. Robin had taken the chance to approach, and placed the device on the robot's head. "Excellent teamwork, Robin. Kana," the faceplate popped open, revealing the real Deathstroke.

"Video call again?" I asked. "This is getting old fast."

"Maybe," he responded. "Robin, stealing for me was a nice action. How very noble of you."

"Don't answer him," I warned. "Remember what I told you."

"And what would that be?" Deathstroke prodded. Neither of us answered. "... No matter. My plans go unhindered. It's only a matter of time. And speaking of time..."

The screen overlapped a countdown over Deathstroke, an SDS. Seeing a sack, Robin grabbed back the chips and started running. "Reflect!" My spell worked in reverse, containing the explosion. "Lets return the chips," I suggested.

"So..." Raven spoke up, the team a little late to the party, "what did Deathstroke want?"

"I don't know," Robin stood, pulling the one real chip out of the bag and discarding the rest. "But I'm starting to think this is about me."

"So what will you do?" I asked him. "If you keep up your obsession, you may make things worse."

"Here's the plan. If I spend more than half an hour working on Deathstroke in one day," Robin turned to the team, "put me through an hour long dodgeball drill, I can't retaliate."

"With powers?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin sighed. "For the first 20 minutes. But I can call time out at any time."

Beast Boy and Cyborg grinned at each other. "Payback on Red X?" Cyborg asked.

"He's gonna wish he hadn't laid a hand on my hair!" Beast Boy agreed.

"You're in for it," I elbowed Robin, grinning.

"Don't think you're out of it Kana," Robin grinned back, regaining some of his normal self. "You kept the secret from them with me. You're on my team!"

"Hey!" I tried to reason with him. "Keeping a secret's only worth ten minutes of one game! Four with powers max!"

"Fine by me!" Cyborg's grin almost became sinister, as he glanced towards Beast Boy. "You know, with two robberies today, I'd say he spent at least 40 minutes on this Deathstroke plan."

Robin and I understood what that meant, and started running. "Me too..." Beast Boy shared the grin. "Hedgehog blast!" Jumping up, he transformed into an armadillo, which Cyborg blasted towards us with his arm cannon. Once he got momentum and spin, he transformed into a curled hedgehog, heading straight for us.

"This is going to be a long 4 minutes..." I moaned. Robin nodded his agreement.

* * *

**Who said that only the Titans Go! incarnation team can have fun with their training?**

**Important Review Responses... Come on people!**

**AnonymousGX**


	8. Apprentice

**I'm trying to rush this chapter, as well as the next two, out so I can post the cover. Otherwise, the cover would be spoilers.**

* * *

"I'm going to kill him!" Beast Boy taunted.

"Don't!" I cautioned him. "I need his power-up!" We were playing Beast Boy's favorite co-op fighting game, but Beast Boy's inter-competitive attitude was ruining my strategy. "I'm the long range fighter, I need his Ring of Accuracy."

"Fine..." Beast Boy relented. With a swift arrow, I finished off our last opponent of the stage. As a reward, I got the ring, and equipped it.

"**Boss Battle!**" appeared on the screen.

"Dude," Beast Boy was in awe while the stage loaded, "this is the first time I ever got this far."

"Play by my orders," I murmured, "and we'd be twice as far already, with most of our lives."

"What do you think the boss will be?" Beast Boy thought. "A giant slime? A dragon?" Instead, a familiar face appeared. "Check it out, the boss looks just like Deathstroke!"

"Hello Beast Boy," the screen told us.

I paused the game. "It's him!" I almost growled it out.

"Somebody get Robin!" Beast Boy shouted. Cyborg got up to do so.

"Where is he?" Deathstroke asked.

"In his den," I answered. "He should be here soon."

"And how are you?"

"A little confused," I was honest. "You said you had perfect control over the Heartless, but I haven't seen many."

"Patience," Deathstroke answered. "You'll get your fill soon enough."

"So you're saving them for a bigger plan than what you've done already," I read between the lines.

"Hello Robin," Deathstroke didn't answer me.

"Why did you call?" Robin demanded.

"Run out of messenger screen robots?" I taunted.

"Cute," Deathstroke remained calm. "I'm disappointed in you, Robin. I thought you would have figured out my plan by now."

"We've been keeping him in check," Raven spoke up.

"Then I guess it's up to me to uncover it." Deathstroke stepped away from the monitor, revealing various robot henchmen and a large machine. "Are you able to recognize this?"

"A chronotron detonator!" Cyborg identified it.

"Indeed."

Everybody else uttered an exclamation, including Beast Boy before he turned to me. "What's a chromodome detonator?"

"I'm not sure, but based on the Latin roots," I theorized, "it's a molecular time bomb. It stops time, basically turning everything in its blast range into a living statue."

That guess made Beast Boy nervous. "How clever of you, Kana," Deathstroke's confirmation made him faint.

"I have this bomb rigged to both a timer and a trigger," Deathstroke showed off a countdown on the machine and a small remote in his hand. "You have until 10 PM, if I don't set it off sooner. I'm sure you and your friends can figure out where I'm keeping it; your move." The screen then went blank.

"Only two hours?" Cyborg gasped.

"More than enough time for us to deal with this," Robin took the lead. "I set up the console to record everything shown on the monitor. While I rewind the footage, look for a clue."

Slowly, the video played in reverse. "All I see is a warehouse," Cyborg noted.

"Those are usually near the seaboard," I commented, "for cargo ships."

"And Deathstroke revealed where. Pause the video," Raven spoke up. Once the frame was frozen, she pointed it out. "These lines, they're the location's name mirrored."

"Enhancing," Robin pushed a few buttons. Quickly, the blurs became words, then flipped to be more easily readable. _Pier 41_. "Titans! Wake Beast Boy and head out!" Robin took the lead, running for the newly created T-Car.

Once we got to the docks, Robin made for the front door while the rest of the team separated to take different entrances. I reached mine, a window, first. As I looked in, I realized something. "Titans," I opened my communicator, "the building's guarded, but there's no bomb."

Robin got on the line. "An ambush! Titans, fall back."

As we regrouped behind the building, Starfire almost sneezed. Robin noticed. "Quiet Star. We don't want to alert those robots in there."

"I am sorry," Starfire managed to hold back another sneeze. "Many Tameranians are allergic to metallic chronium."

"Sounds like a time bomb ingredient," I noted.

Cyborg pulled up his wi-fi arm. "You're right. So Starfire can sniff it out for us."

"Then lets follow Starfire!" Robin growled out.

"Cool it Robin," I told him. "Remember, Deathstroke may be messing with your head."

"You think a Chronotron Detonator is a joke?" Robin challenged.

"No," I answered, "but..."

"If I had more time to analyze his plans," Robin signaled Starfire to take the lead, "I might have been able to stop him before this ever started!"

"And you might not," I followed. "Lets not focus on the past."

Moving around the lot, Starfire sniffed, until she sneezed at a nearby large sewage pipe. Once inside, we saw an idling boat, Deathstroke's robots and detonator on board. "Titans, go!" Robin shouted.

As soon as he did, the boat came to life and began picking up speed. "Aero," I cast a wind shield, protecting me from the sewage smell for a short while. "Why did they wait for us?" I asked out loud.

"Maybe you're right about this being about Robin," Raven commented, flying next to me.

In answer, a wall erupted next to us, and a familiar stone hand pulled Robin in. Once the rubble cleared, we saw Robin and Cinderblock fighting each other. "I'm fine," Robin leapt over Cinderblock's arm and threw a flash grenade into his face. "Go after the bomb!" Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy moved out, while Starfire and I stood by the opening. "I said go!" Robin commanded, kicking his foe in the head.

"Keep in touch!" I told him, pulling out my communicator. "Star, can you give me a lift?"

With her carrying me, we quickly caught up to the rest of the Titans. Beast Boy was struggling to carry Cyborg through the tunnels, so Starfire swapped passengers. I have to admit, it's cool to ride a pterodactyl, if there weren't laser guns blasting at you from a boat in a narrow tunnel.

"Kana, yellow eyes ahead," Raven noticed, pointing them out to me. Sure enough, the walls ahead were crawling with Heartless. These ones were like the Pokemon Gastly; ethereal orbs with a basic face.

"Possessors!" I identified. "A Heartless ghostly leech! Don't let them touch you! Cyborg, Raven, knock a wide path of them from the ceiling. We'll pass through safely."

My plan was spot on. Together, Raven and Cyborg's long range powers cleared the tunnels above us of Possessors. If I wasn't in her arms, Starfire would have helped. As we passed, some Possessors tried to jump onto us, but we were too high and too fast. As soon as we cleared them, I jumped off Beast Boy's back. "Keep going!" I told them. "I'll hold them off!"

Starfire dropped Cyborg onto Beast Boy and turned to me. "Are you sure? What if they were to touch..."

"Aero!" I brought another shield up around me.

"... never mind," Starfire turned back towards the detonator.

"Actually," I told her, "it's probably best if we keep your sneeze-bolts away from the bomb. Want to help me out?"

"I will," Starfire got her starbolts ready.

"Aero!" I put a shield up around her, just in case. Between her bolts and my magic, we started knocking them down like flies. Whenever I ran out of magic, I used my swords to block their advances and regenerate it faster via my MP Guard ability.

After a couple minutes, we defeated every last one. I pulled out my communicator. "Robin, where are you?" I called. All I got was static. "Robin, what's your status?" Nothing. "Cyborg," I tried.

After a few seconds, I got a reply. "Yes Kana?" Cyborg asked in a whisper.

"I think Robin's communicator is jammed," I told him. "Something happened back there, and he's not picking up."

Starfire gasped behind me. "I'm trying to defuse the bomb," Cyborg whispered, "but it's noise sensitive."

"So no Starfire sneezes," I interpreted. "We'll go check on Robin; he hasn't caught up yet."

Carrying me again to move quickly, Starfire rushed us back to where we left him. However, only Cinderblock was there, knocked out. "Robin must have been very determined to be able to take down the Cinderblock on his own," Starfire noted.

"But he's no longer here," I looked around. "Most likely, he found a lead on Deathstroke."

"I do not see any indicator of Deathstroke," Starfire said.

"Maybe Robin took it with him," I 'theorized'. "So he has an object that revealed Deathstroke's location, and we can't hail him. Most likely, it's an electronic map with a jamming frequency."

"So," Starfire was worrying, and stopped flying, "we can not follow?"

"Deathstroke chose his henchmen wisely," I looked at the fallen foe. "Cinderblock won't talk and reveal anything to us. I suggest we leave before he wakes up, return to Titan Tower, and try to track down Robin from there."

Starfire agreed, and gave me a quick ride back. After a couple fruitless minutes, Cyborg led the rest of the team into the living room. "Dude, that bomb almost blew!" Beast Boy moaned.

"Luckily, it shut itself down," Raven amended.

"So, was the bomb not a bomb?" Starfire asked.

"It was a fake," Cyborg said. "There was a ray gun that zapped us once we disabled it. However, we can't sense anything wrong with us."

"I suggest we scan each of you," I spoke up. "Maybe the gun did internal damage. But until we know what Deathstroke did, I suggest you three stay in the Tower and try not to infect anything."

"If we don't know what to look for," Cyborg muttered, "it'd be harder than finding a needle in a haystack..."

After two days, Cyborg's scans were uninformative and Robin was still off the radar. I really wanted to warn them of their nano-machines in their blood, but I didn't want to let Deathstroke know I knew too much. We needed evidence before we removed them, and I wanted to make a call before anyone found out.

On the second night, a Deathstroke robbery was reported in the Advanced Weaponry Facility. Since it could lead to a clue about Deathstroke, or Robin's whereabouts, the whole team decided to go in, regardless of their ray gun's unknown effect. However, once we arrived on the roof, we didn't find our usual robots. Instead, we found Robin, in a Deathstroke uniform. "Dude," Beast Boy noticed, "why'd you get the new uniform?"

"Friend Robin," Starfire tried, "why have you sided with Deathstroke?"

After a silent pause, Robin jumped to the side. As he did, I saw movement behind him. Two medium sized Heartless had appeared, and were floating towards us. "Darkball Heartless!" I pointed them out as I ran around Robin. "I'll get their attention, you guys try to beat Robin!"

I was really tempted to bring out my Keyblades, but I was sure I could handle them, or at least hold them off until the rest of the team could help. So I instead pulled out my staff. "Thunder! Freeze!" I cast at both, turning their attention from the rest of the team. Speaking of team, Robin had thrown a flash grenade behind me, covering his exit.

"Yo Kana!" Cyborg yelled. "How do we deal with these two?"

"Attack from mid range if you must go physical, otherwise use your other abilities," I instructed them. "A Darkball's main attacks are either a charging bite, or an in-place flail. Watch for it to signal which attack." As I said so, I swung my staff at my nearest Darkball. In retaliation, I saw it descend and start to twist, "Thrash attack," I pointed it out to the team, then jumped back before it began. Once I landed, I saw the other chomp its teeth a few times while ascending, "Charge attack." I decided to jump over it, twisting to face it before I hit the ground. "Fire!" I cast at its back. While it was startled, the flames weren't enough to defeat it.

"Titans, go!" Cyborg raised his arm cannon and started firing. Raven used her powers to throw some nearby crates at them, while Starfire threw starbolts. Beast Boy had to go for close combat, and opted to fight as a tiger.

With at least two Titans on them, the Darkballs had little chance. Too soon for it to be fun, they were defeated. "How can Robin use those against us?" Starfire asked.

"I think it wasn't him, but Deathstroke," I told her.

"But why did he join him?" Raven asked.

"I don't know," I told them, "but I might know somebody who might have the answers."

"Who?" Starfire was hopeful.

"Cyborg, I need to borrow your car," I told him. "Don't worry, I have my license."

"Where are you going?" he was cautious.

"To get answers," I evaded answering directly.

Once we got back to the tower, Cyborg gave me the keys, with some rules of how to treat his car. Once I was in, I set the GPS for Gotham City. It was easy to find the house I was looking for, it was a little ways out of the city limits on a hill. Seeing the empty gatehouse, I decided to part outside and sneak in.

When I got inside, I went from room to room. Soon, I found the owner's study. I then activated my Dreamer powers. Using their basic ability, I scanned the room. Sure enough, one of the bookshelves was a door with a book as a hidden handle. Pulling it, a secret tunnel was revealed.

I descended it, far below the mansion. After some time, it opened up into a large cave. Inside was black car, a bunch of computers, and an older gentleman taking care of an iconic suit. As he worked, he noticed me. "Who are you, and how did you find my lair? That's right, I am the one they call Batman."

"Nice try Alfred," I told him.

"And I was told the third time would be the charm..." Alfred moaned.

"Where's Batman?" I asked him.

"He's away. Official Justice League business."

"I don't have time for this!" I almost yelled. "Dick Grayson have gone of the deep end, and I wanted to ask Bruce Wayne why!"

"How do you know our names?" I admit, I jumped. Batman had snuck up behind me. "You're Kana, the mysterious boy from Robin's new team. He asked me to look up information on your past." Batman sat down at his computer, powering it up. "But while I could find nothing on you, you were able to discover our secrets." His tone implied _'Tell me why, now!'_

I decided to get my personal question answered first while answering his. "Do you know a Steve Roger, also known as Captain America?" I asked him.

"Yes," Batman admitted. "Our parallel universes merge from time to time."

"I'm from the future of that timeline, and did a lot of research before coming here. But don't let anybody else know about that,"

Batman seemed to buy that lie. "Some secrets, like that, are too important to reveal, even to allies," he agreed. "Messing with the space-time continuum is risky. The less people who know, the better."

I then moved on to why I was there. "I came to your Batcave because Robin is now working for Deathstroke." That made Batman get off of his computer. "I couldn't sense any form of mind control, and it was indeed him. As his mentor, I'm hoping you'd have an idea why."

Batman thought for a bit. "I've been monitoring him and his team. When Robin moved to Jump City," he told me, moving to a changing room. "I had a Wayne Enterprises building constructed. I also made an outpost Batcave. I think I should inspect my investment." He came out as Bruce Wayne, suit and all. "Need a lift?"

"I got my own ride," I let him know, heading back for the tunnel ahead of him. Once in the car, I waited for Bruce to drive out, then followed him. He seemed to understand the urgency; we returned faster than I left.

When Wayne stopped at his facility, I parked Cyborg's car next to his and got out. "Need an escort?" I offered.

"Mister Wayne!" a worker ran out of the building. "There's a robbery going on!"

Bruce looked to me. "Don't worry," he pointed me out.

The worker looked at me. "Kana!" he stuttered out. "Does that mean..."

"The rest of the Titans should be here by now, if not soon." I assured him. "But to be safe, evacuate the robbery floor, the upper three floors, and the ground level."

"Yes sir!" the worker saluted, before running back into the building.

Bruce turned back to me. "Let me get changed."

I pulled out my communicator. "Raven, I'm at the base of the Wayne Building. Can you give me a lift?" I turned to Bruce. "See you at the party," I told him, as Raven gave me a boost with her powers.

Once I got on the roof, Robin was already there fighting the team. "I don't sense any Heartless around here!" I told the team, pulling out my swords. Robin took that moment to charge for me. As we fought, I spoke. "Either you decided to have no Heartless backup, or Deathstroke didn't send them with you." I blocked a kick, and stuck back with the flat of my blade. "I'm guessing he wasn't satisfied with you running away from us." Disengaging, Robin turned to Beast Boy, who turned into a leaping tiger. "Which means you weren't following his orders exactly. Why not?" Robin slid under Beast Boy, gave him a kick, then went for Raven. "What leverage does he have over you?"

Robin turned to me, charging up a weapon mounted to his wrist. We locked eyes for a few seconds. "I get it, but who?" I asked him. "Reflect!" Robin shot right when my shields kicked in, insuring nobody would get hurt. He then turned and fired towards Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg, before turning to fire at me again. "By the way, turn around."

"Dude..." Beast Boy was in awe. Standing behind Robin was the Caped Crusader himself.

"I taught you better than this, Robin," Batman growled at his former pupil. Seeing the Batglare in person made me realize just how scary it was. After a few seconds of standoff, Robin seemed startled. "Looks like you got a new set of orders."

As Robin ran, I sensed something. "Incoming Heartless!" Almost in answer, something appeared on the ground where Robin used to stand. It was a large, moving shape. "Mega-Shadow! Get clear!" I yelled out. Soon, an over-sized Shadow appeared, the top of its large round head about as high as ours. "Don't bother attacking when it's shadow-traveling, watch out for a body slam and a charge followed by a scratch."

The Heartless went after Raven first, charging in. "Raven, shield!" I called out. Just in time, Raven blocked the attack. The failed move caused it to stumble. "Now!" I signaled everybody. I cast a few Fire spells at it, Starfire and Raven shot pure energy, and Batman threw explosive Batarangs. This barrage was enough to defeat it.

"Robin got away again!" Cyborg was upset.

"But he gave us a clue!" I told him.

"What clue?" Beast Boy got in my face. "All he did was fight us!"

"During our standoff," I informed him, "I got a good look at him, and we spoke though fighting symbolism. He didn't want us to get hurt. and was fighting to protect us."

"How did you understand that?" Starfire asked.

"He used his blaster on me because I could shield myself from it," I explained. "He then shot at the three people he was protecting from Deathstroke."

"He shot at myself," Raven spoke up, "Cyborg, and Beast Boy."

"The three that were hit by that weird laser!" Cyborg realized.

"But it didn't have any effect on us," Beast Boy pondered. "Your scans haven't shown anything."

"Whatever that laser did," Batman spoke up, hitting a button on his wrist. "I can trace it at my hideout."

"Dude!" Beast Boy got excited. "Can I see your 'secret base'?" He acted spooky when he said the last part.

"I don't reveal my secrets to people like you," Batman turned from Beast Boy before he jaw-dropped.

"I volunteer to be scanned," Raven offered.

Batman looked her over. "Get in." Overhead, the Batwing was hovering. Using her powers, Raven lifted both of them aboard, and Batman sped out of the city before turning back, coming in low before vanishing.

"Dude," Beast Boy stared. "Does that mean the Batcave is in our city?"

"He told me that since Robin moved," I revealed, "he wanted to keep a close eye on him. It's probably just an outpost."

We decided to return to our Tower. However, Batman was a fast worker. Before we got close in the T-Car, Raven's communicator was calling us. "I found the trouble," Batman's voice came over the T-Car's speakers. "There are nano-machines in your bloodstreams. If activated remotely, they will destroy you from the inside out."

That made Beast Boy freak out in the back. "Beast Boy!" I yelled at him. "Quiet!" He couldn't calm down, but shifted into a quiet hamster to continue. "Can you remove them, or trace it?"

"I have the equipment needed to remove the nanobots at my proper base in Gotham," Batman revealed. "I've pinned down the location of their trigger."

"So lets go after our friend!" Cyborg said.

"As long as you three are in danger," I told him, "Robin is enslaved to Deathstroke. You three drop me and Starfire off near his base, then race for Gotham. As soon as you three are clean, we'll move to help Robin."

"As long as he's in my base," Batman's voice was harder than normal, "Your green elf is blindfolded."

Beast Boy was upset, but preferred to be blindfolded than continue carrying the probes. It didn't take long for Starfire and myself to be dropped off. After half an hour, Cyborg called in. "We're in Batman's lair. Batman's going to set up a signal jammer and false signals. While we're in here, he can't hurt us but thinks he still can."

"How long until the signals are ready?" I asked.

"Two minutes," Batman got on the line.

"That's when Starfire and I will move in," I told them.

When it was time, we snuck into Deathstroke's lair together, hidden in a machine factory. Once we were completely in, we saw Deathstroke and Robin fighting. I whispered to Starfire. "I'm going down there and getting Deathstroke's attention. You take him by surprise."

I silently made my way down to the floor. Since there was a lot of noisy machinery, my descent was hidden from both sight and ears. I then made way towards them. "How rude of you!" I spoke up. "You forgot to leave the welcome mat. I wanted to brush my shoes off first."

"Kana," Deathstroke identified me. "Robin, attack!"

"Get out of here!" Robin shouted.

"Not without you," I told him.

"How loyal," Deathstroke held up a button. "But Robin won't be going with you."

A green starbolt from above disagreed with him, knocking him over. "Friend Robin will always be a Titan," Starfire declared. "You may not have him!"

"Then he won't have you," Deathstroke pushed the button.

"Starfire, blast him!" I commanded.

"No!" Robin shouted. "The rest of the team..."

"Are going to be fine," I whispered to him.

"That's right," Deathstroke dodged Starfire's attacks, button still pressed. "You two weren't in my trap. But no matter. I have other ways to deal with you."

From the shadows, Possessors sprouted, moving in on us. "Aero!" I cast three times, protecting each member of the Titans there. "We got to finish this quickly!"

The three of us ignored the Possessors and charged on Deathstroke. Starfire led with Starbots, boxing him in. Once ready, I made my move. "Thunder!" my spell shorted out some of his suit, and stunned him. However, the button was still pressed.

With a yell, Robin charged in, hitting Deathstroke hard. Paralyzed, he was unable to do anything. It wasn't until his helmet cracked that he was able to regain control over his body. Before we could get a good look at him, Deathstroke covered his exposed face and ran. "Another day Robin," he called.

"That doesn't sound like he'll slink away without a surprise," I warned everybody.

"Titans, lets go home!" Robin got back into the leadership role. Sure enough, Deathstroke had rigged his base to self-destruct, taking the Possessors with it. However, with Starfire's joy at having Robin back, she was more than able to fly us safely out.

Once we were back at the Tower, we all sat down. "It is glorious to have you back Robin!" Starfire cheered.

"What did he want you for?" I asked.

"An apprentice," Robin looked down. "He wanted to train me to become like him. He even offered to teach me how to control the Heartless, if I did well enough."

"And you shouldn't," I agreed with him. "Nobody can control the Heartless." I silently laughed at my joke. "Anybody who tries will lose their heart to them."

"But we have Robin, and Deathstroke is no longer a threat," Starfire continued to cheer.

"I'm not so sure..." Robin stalled.

"Without you," I agreed, "he may look for a new apprentice."

* * *

**So, how did you think that went?**

**Important Review Responses... please people!**

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**AnonymousGX**


	9. How Long is Forever?

**Last chapter until the cover can be released!**

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"HAPPY BLORTHOG!" Starfire announced.

"My, my..." I smiled at her. "Is that that day of the Tameranian calendar already?" While Tamaranian days were about the length of Earth's, their calendar had 490 days in a year. Trust me, it was confusing when Starfire told us she was only 12 years old when she arrived. "I can't wait to see what you have planned."

However, nobody else shared my sentiment. Ever since Deathstroke held half the team hostage a week ago, Robin was throwing himself into training and was out of the room. Beast Boy and Cyborg were arguing over whose turn it was. Raven was trying to meditate, but looked almost ready to leave.

"Beast Boy! Cyborg!" I called to them. "Put that on pause. You forced Star to celebrate Halloween, you owe her. It's your turn to celebrate her holiday!"

Beast Boy laughed at the memory, then got off the couch. However, I saw Cyborg's look. "You touch that controller today," I warned him, "and I'll lock the console with Robin's fingerprints."

"No fair man!" Cyborg grumbled, joining us. "The dude never takes those gloves off!"

Starfire saw I was getting the teammates here up and left to get Robin. "Raven?" I softly said, getting her attention. "Starfire has a friendship holiday, and wants us to participate."

"Remember the last time I tried to be fun?" Raven reminded me.

"I warned them to tone it down," I glared at Beast Boy and Cyborg. "Please Raven, where would you be without us? Is that such a bad thing to at least recognize?" Raven thought for a minute, then got up about when Starfire dragged Robin in. "Starfire," I got her attention. "Everybody, including Raven, is in. But I suggest you tone down the festivities. We don't want to ruin the holiday for their first time like BB did Halloween."

Starfire flinched when she heard that word. "Hey! I told her that guy cut in half at the haunted house with his organs hanging out was faking it!" Beast Boy defended himself, using his hands to show what he meant.

"And I showed her how the trick worked," I reminded him. "Doesn't make the memory any better."

"In that case, we shall skip the morning frolic," Starfire consented. Raven nodded a thanks. She then picked up a chime necklace. "I have made a tinnabula for every one. They are symbols of the good feelings among friends, and help banish the Rekmas."

"Wreck-ma's?" Beast Boy checked.

"Literally 'the drifting'," I told him. "You might call it 'falling out' among friends."

"Indeed. My sister Blackfire and I did it every Tamaranian year, except for the last," Starfire said wistfully.

Now we all understood why this day seemed so important to her. She lost her sister to the cops, and she, at least partially, blamed herself on that holiday. Now, she had a chance to strengthen her connection to us. Knowing that, even Raven softened up to the holiday traditions. "Is it too late for the frolic?"

Everybody's gasps at her made another picture perfect moment. Luckily, I had one on hand. But before I could pull it out, the moment was ruined by a distress signal over the communicators. When we arrived, I saw it was Warp, an older man in a gold and black suit. He noticed our approach from above, "Ah, the Teen Titans. I read up on you in the historic archives before coming here."

"Historic archives?" I noted. "Guys, we have a time traveler. He likely already knows most of our moves."

"Titans, be unpredictable! Go!" Robin commanded, swinging straight for Warp, kick ready. As he descended, Warp's shoulders revealed laser guns, which fired in Robin's direction, passing him on either side. "Nice aiming, for advanced tech," Robin retorted, pulling up from his swing, missing Warp. As he passed, he turned and threw a birdarang, damaging one of the lasers.

As Warp recoiled, I charged in. "Fire!" As the flames headed for him, a defensive field encircled him, protecting him from the flames.

"You silly element spells can't penetrate Warp's shields!" he declared.

"You remind me of somebody," I commented, still rushing him. "Similar suit, similar use of powers, similar goatee and face... Are you related to a Doctor Light?"

That seemed to make him nervous, and his shields vanished. He instead lifted a wrist weapon that began to crackle with electricity. "Ready for this spell?" I got in close. "Thunder! Balloon!"

The first spell was a trick I learned fighting Lighting. By casting an electric spell before getting hit by an electric attack, I was able to use the attack to power up the spell without taking nearly as much damage. As he reacted with a force field, he didn't realize his mistake. I rarely use the second spell, so I knew it had less information in future archives. Instead of using Balloon defensively, I had cast the spell to surround him. As soon as the field was on, it triggered my balloons and contained the explosion, insuring he was hit a little harder than normal.

"Azarath Mentrion Zinthos!" Raven intoned. Her magic grabbed his ankles, hoisting him into the air. As he swung, Beast Boy went in as a bear and struck, sending him spinning through the air. Cyborg then aimed his sonic cannon while Starfire prepared starbolts. Together, the blasts caused sections of his suit to crack, and Raven released him next to his target clock.

As Warp got up, a black circle appeared next to him. "My time has not yet come," he grabbed the clock. "See you 100 years in the future!"

As he made to step through, both Starfire and I rushed the portal. As she passed me, I grabbed her ankle, and got pulled in with her pushing Warp. However, I felt something weird as I passed though. Inside the time hole, gravity didn't seem to work, but a similar force was dragging us after Warp. Choosing not to focus on it, Starfire wrestled with him, ignoring her Achilles' passenger. "You have ruined Blorthog, and shall return the object that you have stolen!"

"Damage the suit!" I called to her, not quite able to pull myself up her body or swing directly to Warp. "Get the chest piece!"

"No!" Warp tried to stop her, but she managed to tear off his chest piece. "Do you realize what you have..." whatever he would have said next was lost as we vanished into a dark void. After what could have been only a moment, we felt gravity kick back in.

Starfire began to scream during our descent. "Wind!" I cast on both of us, slowing our descent.

"Kana," she turned to me as we descended. "What has happened?"

"I guessed that his chest piece was his temporal regulator," I told her. "It dictates when and where we go. By removing it, we forced ourselves to not travel all the way into his future. Starfire, what were you thinking about when we were in the void?"

"I wanted to be with my friends, in our tower..." Starfire recalled.

"I think that adjusted where we came out," I informed her. "Turn around." Behind us was Titan Tower. However, the living room had a huge hole in its window, and we could tell it was winter by the snow on the ground. "I don't know when we popped out though. Maybe we can find a clue in the Tower."

Starfire gave me a lift, preferring to go in through the window. Once inside, we found no clues as to when we were. However, Starfire found a mecha-bug infestation. She was always squeamish about bugs, and started firing away. "Yo!" A familiar voice rang into the room. "Who's been messin' with my... Star? You're back?"

"Cyborg," Starfire held her friend's face. "When are we? What has happened here? Where are our friends?"

"Our battle with Warp," Cyborg recalled, "was 20 years ago. Ever since you disappeared, the Titans started to fall out. Kana tried to keep everybody together..."

"Kana?" Starfire clarified. She wasn't the only one surprised.

"What about me?" I came out from around the counter.

Cyborg stared. "Kana? You said you were gone for good! And you haven't aged a bit!"

"What happened to me on that day?" I remembered that funny feeling.

"You didn't make it into the portal," Cyborg informed me. "You tried to keep everybody together. However, you left one day, leaving a letter that didn't explain much. That's when the team split."

"Where is it?" I asked him.

"Raven took it with her," Cyborg remembered. "Wouldn't let anybody else see it."

"I think I get it," I puzzled it out. "I wasn't completely in the portal when I passed through. So I was transported, with Starfire and Warp, to a future where I didn't get transported."

"That is a possibility..." Cyborg agreed.

"Warp!" Starfire remembered. "We must find him. Take back what he stole, and return it to our time!"

Cyborg turned away. "Even if I could repair myself, the past can't be fixed."

"Your past can't," I agreed. "But our future can. Are you familiar with the Many-World's Interpretation? Both Warp's timeline and ours can coexist."

Cyborg thought about it. "That may be possible."

"Where are our friends?" Starfire prodded. "We will need help to find Warp."

"I can't leave the tower, but I know where BB and Raven are. Knowing Robin, he'll find you," Cyborg offered.

Starfire decided to go after Beast Boy, while I found Raven's apartment. Luckily, it was unlocked. "Raven?" I called.

She was in the middle of the whitewashed room, wearing a white cloak. "It'll go away," she whispered to herself. "It always does..."

"Cyborg told me what happened," I told her, closing the door behind me. "I'm Kana, from the battle with Warp. I managed to be halfway inside the portal when it closed, splitting me in two. I interrupted Warp's time tunnel with Starfire's help, but according to Cyborg, another me didn't make it in."

"Just ignore..." Raven muttered.

"I don't know what happened in your past," I tried, "but Cyborg also said you had a note from me. May I see it?"

"Just... a figment..." Raven was trying to restrain herself from looking.

"Aero," I commanded, trying to prove myself to her. The winds obeyed, encircling Raven.

"... Kana..." Raven's voice was hoarse. She probably didn't use it properly in a long time.

"What happened?" I slowly approached, ready to give her a hug. I figured she missed me.

Instead, she turned on me, dispelling the winds surrounding her. "**Ever since that battle, you grew** **distant!**" Anger was loose again, and she advanced on me."**You no longer cared about me as much! You then abandoned me, for that tramp!**"

I admit, I was scared. "Who?" I stuttered out.

But it was no use trying to reason with Anger. "**You broke my heart! Now I'll break yours!**" She enveloped me, her energy black and unforgiving. I felt the full brunt of Darkness, amplified by Raven's hatred. I panicked; I knew what would happen if Raven had her way with me in this state. Reaching for pure magic, I desperately created a shield of Light. "**AAAARG!**" Raven's scream bellowed, as she released me from her torture.

When I saw her, she was covered in white burns. "Raven!" I cradled her. "I'm sorry for hurting you just now. But I'm not the same Kana that left you. I'm the one that still cares for you, deeply. I don't know what happened in your past, and have no idea why I would do such a thing to you."

Raven stared at me, eyes still accusing. All I could do is smile and cry. The tears were partly because of Raven's torture, but mostly because I couldn't bare to see her like this, and the thought that I was responsible for both her past suffering and present pain. After a minute of holding her, Raven broke down. She started to cry as well, and we hugged.

Once she recovered, she pulled an envelope out of her cloak. "You left this for me," she spoke, handing it over.

I opened it and pulled out a page.

_Raven,  
__I'm sorry your fate never came to pass. I wanted you to come with me on this journey, badly. If you ever meet it, I hope you can endure it and come out strong.  
But it's time for me to leave. Once I'm gone, the way between my world and yours will collapse. We'll never be able to meet again.  
But please, do me one last favor. Starfire traveled to the future through Warp's portal. If a time traveler, other than her, ever comes to you and reminds you of this, give this to him or her. That person will know what to do with this.  
Kana Berury Mooneyes_

"It says I went home," I told her. "Who did I take with me?"

"Kid Flash and Jinx," Raven almost growled out the latter name.

That made sense to me. Those two were potential companions I had in mind. Having a super-speeder and a hex girl would be a great strategy for tackling worlds, and Heartless, together. They had the skills to handle members of Org. XIII, if needed. Also, I could leave them together in the realm of Kingdom Hearts when I had to return to the 'real world', since they were originally going to be a couple anyway.

"There's something else," Raven pointed out, "but I was unable to open it."

Another envelope was within the letter. On the front was a note. "_Use the Light to open it after the timeline is fixed. Don't get the Dark yet._" On the back was a familiar symbol; a Keyhole. "This letter is locked by Keybearer magic," I noted.

Raven understood it. "Then that means..."

"Remember when I tried to enter the portal?" Raven nodded. "The other me from the past must have guessed that we split, and that I could arrive in this future... He says I should summon a Keyblade, but not until we fix the past. So, will you help me?"

Raven thought about it. "I will." Together, we left the apartment.

Once outside, I pulled out my communicator. "Starfire, Raven's in. Where are you?"

"Beast Boy does not wish to help," Starfire told us. "I have found Robin. I will send you my location."

After a couple seconds, a map with directions appeared on my screen. Raven and I followed it to Robin's lair. Once we got close, our communicators began to blink; the Titan emergency call. We turned ours off and joined Starfire and Robin inside. "Starfire forgot to tell you," Robin stood, hair flowing in the snowy breeze coming through the door, "the name's Nightwing now. Hello Raven, I missed you." Nightwing led us to his desk. "Starfire has some mild temporal radiation from her trip with Warp. Using it, my computer can track him."

The computer began to scan the city, and found me first. Nightwing then reset the computer to search for another source of temporal energy, soon settling on our foe. Based on his movement, he was heading a familiar location. "He's going to where we first fought him," Raven noticed.

"It's likely his suit was only meant to travel through time, not space," I theorized. "He wants not only to go back to his time, but back to the same place he left from."

"Then let's interrupt his homecoming," Nightwing grabbed some supplies from his desk, including a wrist-computer with the tracking signal.

We found him as he finished repairing the suit. "You time has come!" Nightwing declared.

"And now," I spoke up, "we know _your _moves."

"No matter," Warp accepted our challenge, "you are decades out of experience."

"Not Kana or my self!" Starfire announced, charging in with starbolts. Raven joined her on the assault, throwing various objects from around the room. Defensively, Warp put up a shield which deflected most of the onslaught. Some of Starfire's more precise shots reflected back at her, striking her hard. Taking a moment's rest from the battle, Raven caught her with her powers and moved her away from the fight.

"Don't forget Nightwing," I added as he swung in. "He's been training non-stop."

"I won't let you try that again," Warp aimed his good laser upwards, towards where Nightwing's line was secure. This caused a section of the roof to collapse, and Nightwing fell far short of Warp.

Undeterred, he and I rushed in. "Nightwing, remember our battle with Deathstroke's robot? Lets trade roles." Nightwing understood the plan. He jumped at Warp, aiming for an overhead staff strike. Using the strength of the suit, Warp raised his arm to block the attack on his head. Circling Warp as he struck, Nightwing carefully kept him occupied, and distracted from his surroundings.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven cast, causing the earth underneath Warp to quake. As he lost his footing, a familiar blast erupted from the building's entrance, striking Warp. "Boo-yah!" Cyborg grinned. Starfire was getting up at this point, and admired Cyborg's repair job.

"You will pay for that," Warp pulled out a small timer from his pouch. But from above, a shrieking noise was heard. A green peregrine falcon dived in through the ceiling, striking the device from his hand. His attack complete, the bird regrouped with us, before shifting back into an overweight, bald Beast Boy.

Staring down the Titans again made Warp uneasy. He activated his suit, creating another temporal portal. "Thunder!" I cast as Nightwing threw a black birdarang. Our combo attack cracked and overcharged Warp's suit. In pain, Warp began to scream. But as we watched, Warp shrank, the screams becoming higher pitched. Soon he was reduced to a naked infant Warp. "Well, now we can raise him to be good," I commented, picking up the baby and calming him down.

"I'm not changing any diapers," Cyborg ignored Warp and instead grabbed his chest piece, adapting it to his sonic cannon, "but I am getting you two home." He shot his cannon at the portal Warp already made, adjusting it to return us to our time.

"Friends, I thank you for helping," Starfire told everyone. "But can the past be changed? Must the future turn up like this?"

"Starfire," I got her attention. "If you go through that portal, you'll come out in the past. That alone will change the future. Keep the Titans together, and this will never happen."

"We will keep them united, together," Starfire grabbed my free arm.

"Star," I pulled back. "I'm already in the past. If there's two of me together, that can damage the space-time continuum. And that Kana has already dealt with everything I meant to do then. I think I'll stay in this future and start a family." I gave her a jokester smile, "I already got a son, all I need is a wife."

"Kana," Raven's tone didn't give any clues as to what she meant, but she moved closer to me and looked down at the infant Warp.

"Portal's ready!" Cyborg grunted over his shoulder. "Get going Star!"

Starfire looked towards Nightwing, as if she wanted to stay and talk to him. "Hurry Star!" I told her. "You can kiss him in the past if you want!" I intentionally made it awkward to hurry her along. With a blush, Starfire gave a farewell and entered the portal. I then turned to Raven. "I think I'm supposed to open the letter now. Can you hold the baby?"

With some hesitation, she took infant Warp from me. I then concentrated, reaching out for Truth Keeper; my Light Keyblade. I felt the usual barrier, blocking me from getting it, and dispelled it with some True Dreamer willpower. With a bright radiance, my keyblade returned to my hand. "Dude..." Beast Boy was in awe, "why haven't you shown us this before?"

Before I could answer, I felt the familiar energy from my weapon. It made me more aware of my surroundings, but not quite like when I go full Dreamer powers. I could hear music; a simple signal of the mood of my surroundings that my keyblades shared with me. But I also felt a tug. To my surprise, Truth Keeper turned itself to the portal and shot a light into it. "Kana," Raven asked cautiously, "what are you doing?"

"It's not me," I told her, "my keyblade has a soul of its own." I then understood what it was trying to tell me. "Raven, I'm sorry." Without another word, the keyblade hurled me through the adjusted portal.

Inside, I found I had more control over myself than last time. I also saw turbulence in the portal, lighting flashing along the edges. "A Dive?" I frowned at my keyblade. "Even Warp's tech could do better." But for the next minute, I dove through the portal, avoiding the edges and any stray electric shocks. Soon, I found the exit to the portal. As I approached, the keyblade sent me a feeling, that I should release it. Obeying, I returned my keyblade to its void and passed through, but not before I heard Starfire's voice. On the other side, Robin yelled Starfire's name.

Now was the moment of truth. Either Starfire would appear with the clock, or she wouldn't. Thankfully, she did. As she explained where she went, I acted like I wasn't there. But my mind wasn't on her story. I thought long and hard about what I should do. Everybody else though was surprised I left without warning them though. Distracted, I didn't comment on it.

Much later, I decided that I'd talk about it with Raven, so I went to her room and knocked. "Kana," Raven let me in.

"I want to talk about what happened in the future," I told her.

"You didn't seem that interested when Starfire explained it to us," Raven noted.

"I didn't listen because I already knew about it. I was there," I revealed. "I not only came from that future, but I helped insure it would happen."

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

I pulled out the letter. "I wrote this, to myself, in case Starfire didn't return from the future. It was designed to force me to return to this past, whether or not she returned, and likely tells me how to insure that Warp's future will occur. The future where Starfire didnt' return, and I left you behind to return to my world. This way, I'd make sure that a time paradox doesn't occur and erase us from existence."

Raven stared at the letter. "That letter can warn us of upcoming dangers. Like if Deathstroke returns. With its knowledge, we can know how to beat him."

"And since the letter forced me to summon a keyblade," I added to that, "he likely will become a threat." In answer to her look, I summoned Truth Keeper back. I began to explain my theory while Raven admired it. "Heartless fear the keyblade. So they fight to try and destroy it and its wielder. However, as the keybearer grows stronger, weaker Heartless avoid him, and stronger ones take their place. Since I summoned a Keyblade, Deathstroke may get even stronger Heartless to command." Using Truth Keeper, I unlocked the letter. "On the other hand, this letter will also lead me to a future where I have to leave you behind, and take Jinx instead."

Raven looked up at the mention of her name. "What will you do?"

"Fire," I cast, turning the letter to ashes. Raven was surprised at the move. "This isn't the timeline the letter is preparing me for. I want to forge a future on my own. I want to give you a chance."

"Kana," Raven said only one word, her eyes full of hope.

"But I'm afraid you still may not be able to join me," I told her. "We've been close for a long time. But maybe, to spare your feelings, I should back off a bit and be just friends." I saw the surprise on Raven's face. "When your fate is complete, I'll gladly pull my compass out every day and see if you can come. But promise me one thing. If I have to leave you behind, no matter who my companions are, you'll move on with your life and find more friends than the other Titans."

Raven took awhile to respond. "I will."

As I stood up to leave, I remembered something. "In the future, the letter I wrote to you said you hadn't completed your fate yet. Will you tell me what it is, and how I can help?"

"No!" Raven said a little too fast. "... Thanks for the warning, about the future."

"Goodnight Raven." As I made my way back to my room, I too was worried about the future. I really hoped that Raven could join me, but she seemed torn by both the future news and current future's outlook. I was also afraid I'd break her heart again. Falling asleep wasn't easy that night.

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**And the plot thickens! With the next chapter, and I'll be ready to reveal the cover!**

**Important Review Responses... This is the second fanfic plot I created! Please let me know how my original ideas are doing!**

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**AnonymousGX**


	10. Terra

**I was torn as to how this chapter should end. As such, I'm going against my original script and trusting my fingers and characterization.**

**Now I'm a bit upset. I was planning on using Big Hero 6 to be my Marvel world, but now Sora's going there! If they take my other only certain world, I'm going to force Kana and Sora to meet, spying Organization Member or not.**

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As I got up that morning, I went through my normal morning routine. I showered the night before, so I immediately put on clean clothes. I keep my PJs in my nightstand for easy access after a difficult mission. I noticed something in the drawer as I put them away. It was the compass, giving off a faint glow.

It took me a second to process. But once I did, I grabbed it and rushed out of the room. Within a minute, I was breathing heavily in front of a door which I pounded. "Raven!" I called.

After a few seconds, the door inched open a crack. Raven peeked out. "It's early. What do you want?"

"The compass," I pulled it out, "it's glowing."

Raven understood what I meant and opened the door. "May I..."

"Of course," I handed her the compass. Nervously, she opened it. It was pointing at her, but faintly. "It is glowing..." Raven was in awe, and started to turn. It was then that we realized it was pointing beyond her. "Oh..." Raven handed it back.

"Raven," I took her shoulder, "I still want you to come with me if you can. But promise me there will be no hard feelings between you and whoever this is. Who knows, if you can both come, you two will have to be friends as well as partners. I'm going to become this person's close friend; I hope you do the same." Raven didn't respond verbally, but I could tell she understood. "So, want to help me find this person?"

"... Let me get dressed."

"In other words, take off the baggy pants and put a cape on," I interpreted. "That won't take long. I'll head for the door; I'm not sure Cyborg would like it if we took his car."

Sure enough, Raven beat me there using her powers. Together, we followed the compass to the desert northeast of Jump City. Since it didn't give us the distance, we had to walk rather than use Raven's powers to travel. It was quite the trip, and took up most of the day. Once out there, the compass led us to a cave with a campfire. Inside was somebody I recognized; Terra.

"Hello," I called.

My voice was enough to startle her. "WOAH! Who are you? How'd you find me?"

"A magic compass," I pulled it out. Sure enough, it was pointing to Terra, but faintly. "I'm Kana, and this is Raven."

"We're from..." Raven tried to introduce us.

"... the Teen Titans!" Terra recognized us. "I heard about you! I'm Terra."

"Latin for earth," I noted. "Let me guess..."

Terra smiled, then waved her hand. A few small stones rose with it, and she had them sway with her motions before releasing them. "Woah..." Raven admired her ability.

"Nice," I agreed. "What brings you out here?"

Terra seemed a little unsure of how to answer. "I'm... just traveling."

"Why?" Raven asked. "With powers like yours, you could be a strong hero and protect a city."

Terra looked a little fearful. I understood; if we made her any more uneasy, she could cause her abode to cave in, taking us with it. I used my amplified Keybearer senses to feel Terra and her heart's state. However, I got a feel of two other things, yet familiar. The first was a Dark human, hidden in a cave further up the cliff. Ignoring it, I honed in on the second. "Guys," I cautioned, "get out of the cave. Now!"

"What is it?" Terra asked.

"Heartless," I told them.

"Heartless?" Terra asked.

"Darkness given form," Raven summarized, pulling out her communicator.

Once we got out, Terra turned around. "I'll trap it!" she offered, eyes aglow.

"That won't help," I warned her. "It can travel through the Corridors of Darkness. Physical impediments don't exist there, and it can reappear wherever it wants. I need to know what it is; let it approach so I can identify it."

So we watched the cave while Raven called the team. However, this Heartless was original, but had a familiar design. "This one's new," I admitted, "but it's a species of Guard Armor."

"Looks like a scorpion to me," Terra commented. That was indeed the best way to describe it. The body was parallel to the ground, and its head was hidden in the body, covered with a metal grate. Physically connected to its body were two big pinchers, while its stinger/tail, and limbs merely floated along, mimicking proper scorpion movements. The Heartless Emblem was on its back.

"Desert Armor then," I gave it a name. "Guard Armor are a species of Emblem Heartless, but their limbs can separate from the body to fight. We can take out the limbs to inhibit most of its attacks, but we want to take out the head and body, which are one unit. Their armor weakens magical attacks; physical attacks work better."

"I can separate its limbs," Raven offered.

"I can crush them," Terra offered.

"You two do that," I agreed. "I'll distract the body." As I spoke, the tail whipped forward, taking Terra by surprise. I felt it coming, summoned my Keyblade, and together we moved to block it and make it stuck in the ground. That's the best way I have to describe a Reaction Command. "Mind destroying the tail first?" I asked.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven got to work, dislodging and guiding the tail towards a cliff Terra could use.

As I tried to maneuver myself around the Heartless, it turned to keep facing me. Without a clear way onto its back, I decided to face it head to head. So I danced in front of the Desert Armor, dodging strikes and charges while swinging at the pinchers. After breaking one, I watched as every limb detached.

When I struck at the armor, my Keyblade bounced off, ineffective. I noticed that the head's hole was still blocked off. I realized that I'd have to destroy the limbs first, and changed my focus onto one of the four pairs of legs that divided. It fought like a human pair of legs, alternating which was stomping while spinning. While it was easy to avoid, it took me some time to find an opening to strike. As I finished it off, Terra called over. "Oh yeah! One tail down!"

"Get the legs before they reunite!" I commanded, moving on to another pair. After a little while, we managed to beat all three leg pairs and the other claw.

At that point, the Desert Armor's Head appeared, just within the body's neck opening. With a little flip, it dove into the ground. "Kana..." Raven spoke up.

"New to this, mostly..." I scanned the battlefield. "Watch for it to reappear. Get clear when it does, and watch for an opening."

Together, we observed the terrain. Terra pointed it out first. "There, on the cliff!" She was right; dirt was beginning to tremble on the face of the cliff. With a burst, the Heartless reappeared, blasting its gathered sand at us. As we dodged, I noticed its head was missing. As the attack spread along the ground, the head was uncovered, and it floated back to its body. Once reunited, the body submerged again.

"I get it," I told them. "Its head is fired with the earth. If we can prevent the head from returning to the body, we can beat it!"

"Here it comes," Raven pointed out.

Terra got in front of us. "I'll expose it!" When the Desert Armor reappeared, Terra prepared her move. As soon as the sand was fired, she split her arms apart, diverting the sand around us. However, the head kept coming.

"Azarath, Metrion..." a little late, I had to block the head from striking Terra directly. "... Zinthos!" Using her powers, Raven held the head in place. Together, Terra and I bashed it hard.

"Get away from it!" Raven shouted. As I got ready to obey, I sensed what she saw, and felt another Reaction Command; this time to dodge and counterattack. However, I saw Terra pause, probably to ask why. Ignoring my Keyblade's suggestion, I tackled her, pushing her to the ground.

Raven had seen the body begin to leave the cliff. Right after she warned us, the body shot forward, moving to recover its head. Had Raven not done so, Terra might have been hit. Instead of returning to the earth, however, the head mounted the body, which was now vertical. "Now we're back to typical Guard Armor," I noted with a smile. "Hit it from mid range. It'll act like a spin top and a hammer."

Raven changed roles, keeping us in her sights. As Terra threw rocks, I attacked from close range. Whenever it seemed like the Desert Armor would hit us, or that Terra's throw was wide, Raven would pull us away from danger. After another minute, we defeated the Desert Armor, its dark dissipation releasing a heart.

I turned to our new companion "You did great out there," I complimented, returning the Keyblade. "Mind not telling anybody about that weapon?"

"Why not?" Terra asked.

"Not even the Titans know about it," I told her. "It's dangerous in the wrong hands. I only pull it out for extreme emergencies."

"... Okay..." Terra promised.

From up on the cliff, the T-Car appeared, and the rest of the team got out. "You missed the party!" I called up. "We beat it easily, thanks to our new friend Terra!"

"That girl?" Cyborg smiled. "How can she..." Terra created an earth elevator for us, smoothly ascending to the rest of the Titans. "... never mind."

"What?" Terra teased. "You haven't seen a real superhero before?"

"Ooooh, she got you!" I joined her in a high five.

"Hello Terra," Robin greeted her, "I'm..."

"Robin," Terra cut him off. "I heard all about you guys while I was living the life! You're Cyborg, Starfire, and..."

"Boy Beast!" Beast Boy blurted. "I mean... Burnt Boy! ... No!"

"Beast Boy?" Terra went wide-eyed.

With everybody staring at him, Beast Boy went Armadillo and curled up.

With a blink, Terra started laughing. "Dude, you're hilarious!"

Beast Boy uncurled a bit to look at her, then reverted to human, stars in his eyes. "You think... I'm funny?" With a goofy smile on his face, Beast Boy soon passed out.

"You're in for it!" I warned Terra with a smile. "He'll never leave you alone after that. He'll either make you laugh to death, or bore you out of your mind."

"I doubt he'll get boring..." Terra looked down at him, before Starfire flew into her face.

"The Curiosity creeps all over me!" Starfire declared, using a Tamaranian metaphor. "Where are you from, by what means did you arrive here whatisyourpreferredanimal_wouldyoubemyfriendaswel_l?"

Terra took a moment to process it. "... Earth, walking. Uh, rabbits... yes?"

Starfire squealed. "Glorious!" She gave Terra a bone crushing hug. "I have not had a female companion on this planet who was open to being a friend!"

"She means," I whispered to Raven, who looked a little hurt, "you don't do much with her. She's not trying to be rude at all." I then spoke up. "Starfire, do you want to snap Terra in two first, or take her to the Tower?"

Starfire gasped, releasing Terra. "We must take her to our home! We are friends, and we must be good hosts!"

"Heal," I noticed how Terra rubbed her back. "Want to crash at our place? I believe it's BB's turn to cook dinner." Hearing that he'd cook for his new crush made Beast Boy scream/squeak again.

That evening, Cyborg expressed his surprise. "Pizza topped with sausage and pepperoni!? Beast Boy, what's gotten into you? You've never made real meat no matter how much I ask!" Said chef stuttered a failed reply, glancing at our blond guest.

"I think it's delicious!" Terra complimented, stuffing her plate, and her belly, with a little bit of everything, even helping herself to some leftovers from previous meals. Everyone could tell she was underfed, and a little malnourished. How else can you explain eating Starfire's food cold after almost 4 days of sitting?

While Terra took a bath and ran her clothes through the wash, we held a team meeting. Robin spoke up. "What does everybody think about Terra?"

Raven spoke up first. "She's a great fighter, but can learn to have better control over her powers."

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"Whenever she would remove earth from the cliff," Raven informed us, "the surrounding rocks would come loose as well. She needs to learn not just how to move rocks, but how to prevent accidental rock-slides and cave-ins."

"Why are you talking about her skills?" Starfire asked. "She has been living alone for a long time. She has no home, no friends. We must help her!"

"Girl's right," Cyborg spoke up. "Maybe she can stay with us."

"She can have my room!" Beast Boy blurted out, before blushing.

Everyone turned to look at him; I spoke up. "BB, we have plenty of spare rooms. And she'd stay in the girl's wing, near Starfire and Raven."

"Glorious!" Starfire cheered. "I shall have a neighbor!"

"Calm down star," Robin commanded softly. "I think we should put her through a test, to see how good she is."

"Raven and I already saw her in action, against a strong Emblem Heartless. Stronger than even the Darkballs and Mega-Shadow we faced," I informed him. "I think she deserves a day's rest. Let her check out the place; figure out if she'd like to stay here while fighting bad guys."

"Dude," Cyborg spoke up, "our new obstacle course will be ready tomorrow. We can test her then."

"But until then," I spoke up, "she needs a room. I'll escort her to the one next to Raven." So I went to the main lobby. Terra was there, sound asleep. And by sound, I meant foghorn snores. Deciding against putting her next to Raven, I picked her up and carried her to another room.

Once I put her down and tucked her in, she seemed to notice the soft blankets. Her snores stopped, and she woke instantly. It took her a moment to remember what happened today. "Kana..."

"This is your new room," I turned the light switch on, "if you decide to stay."

"It's, nice," Terra looked around.

"We would love it if you join us," I told her. "But Robin wants to put you through an obstacle course tomorrow. Raven noticed that you could fine tune your powers a bit, so he wants to see your current abilities in action."

Terra flinched, and her eyes turned yellow. From her hair, some small pieces of dirt dust exploded off, becoming a fine coating on everything behind her. "Terra..."

"Please don't tell!" Terra pleaded.

"I was going to say 'did you remember to scrub behind your ears?'." That got Terra to laugh. "It's fine. You're just like Raven. She can't fully control her powers either."

"Really?" Terra was surprised. So I told her about her battle with Doctor Light, replacing Powers for Anger. I then told her about how she almost fried half the Tower's tech when Cyborg left the team. There were also a few times where Beast Boy accidentally pranked Raven, and those stories got Terra to laugh.

"If we can accept Raven, you're a piece of cake!" I said. "But if you're still worried, I promise not to tell. But BB... Wind!"

From in the canopy of her bed, a green mouse was caught in a wind vortex, landing between the two of us. "Dude!" Beast Boy reverted back to human, "How'd you know I was there?"

"My special skills." With my Keyblade, my ability to sense presences was enhanced to the point where I was pretty sure Batman couldn't catch me off guard. BB had arrived via air duct shortly before Terra went dirt boom. "Promise not to tell anybody about Terra's... struggle?"

"Of course," Beast Boy grinned. "Anything for the lady."

"You snuck into my room?" Terra confirmed, voice lowered. BB quickly shifted into a cute baby bunny, and Terra couldn't stay mad.

"Even if we won't tell, I think you should tell the rest of the team," I let Terra know. "Raven might be able to help you learn better control, if you two have the same reason for faulty abilities. Robin is Batman's protege, I'm sure he can figure it out on his own. It's better to be honest about this." Terra looked nervous. I took Bunny Boy from her. "But it's your choice who to trust. Good night."

Outside, Beast Boy shifted back to human. "Dude, I am so asking her out this weekend!"

"I saw her first," I warned him. "You made yourself into her stalker with that mouse trick. Do you think she wants to go out with somebody like that?" A little harsh, but BB needed to learn how to behave properly. He was still too immature for his own good.

After lunch the next day, Robin and Cyborg revealed their obstacle course. Cyborg decided a practical demonstration would work, and ran through Level 1. "Boo-yah! New course record!" Cyborg cheered.

"Of course," Raven sarcastically said, "the first person to try it has a chance to get the second place time."

"Hey!" Cyborg shouted to her, "I tried this course a couple times already! This was the fastest time yet!"

"I'm resetting the course," Robin spoke from the controls. "Terra, you're up!"

As she moved forward, I noticed that BB was trying to give her a pep talk. However, his stuttering fails even failed to make her smile. So I jumped down and joined her. "You saw the course, you know what will happen. I know you can do it. But if you're still nervous, want a partner to go through it with?" I offered.

Terra looked at me, then whispered. "... No thanks. I'd rather just use my powers around me."

"I get it," I stepped back. She was afraid of accidentally hurting me.

As the countdown started, I decided to coach her through it. "First are the energy guns," I shouted from the sidelines. Prepared, Terra pulled up several floating stones for a defense. As she ran, the guns shot at her, but only hit her shields.

"Next the surprise punches." Terra pulled up a large stone, using it to fly over the fists' range.

"Now the falling walls." Terra stopped before crashing into one, falling off her stone to do so. She then created a stone bridge she rode along, which smashed through every wall.

"Woah," Beast Boy gasped.

"And to think that Cyborg had trouble lifting one of those," I spoke up. "Her stones shouldn't be strong enough to pierce metal like that."

"Her powers include compressing the earth," Cyborg noted, using his arm to scan her stone trail.

"I guess we should add an obstacle," Robin spoke up, "to check her reflexes. When her stones stop, she'll fall for this."

At the end of her bridge, a pit opened up. With no way to stop her momentum, Terra screamed as she entered. From the sides, several stones of varying sizes flew to her rescue. A couple failed, but two small rocks were easily grabbed, pulling her along out of the pit and to the finish.

"The final disk launchers," I cautioned her. Terra pulled up another large stone to ride, providing her cover as he exited the course. Her dismount was a little rough, but she pulled it off and gave a bow.

I checked the time. "You beat Cyborg by a long shot, and had a harder course than his!"

"I just warmed it up for her," Cyborg tried to save his reputation.

"You helped make it, you memorized it," I told him, as I was blindsided by Terra.

She had already grabbed Beast Boy, and pulled me in for a three way hug. "Thanks guys. You said I could do it, and I did!"

"Was there ever a doubt?" I asked, returning the hug.

Then my communicator started beeping. Terra noticed this on me, and everyone else. "Why's everyone flashing?" Everybody else started heading to the living room.

"It's a warning signal we call Triple T," I told her, guiding her there. "Town to Tower Transmission. We let the police, firemen... the local authorities handle the small-time problems. But if something big happens, they contact us with the intel."

"Like, how bad?" Terra asked.

"Most of the time, it's a super powered criminal. Sometimes, it's a smaller hostage situation or a gang."

By this time, we had reached the Tower. Robin answered more specifically, pulling the signal up on the computer. "It's Deathstroke! His robots are attacking the mining facility."

"Who's that?" Terra asked.

"Bad guy," Beast Boy told her. "Way bad."

"Titans, go!" Robin led the way to the T-Car.

I decided to fill Terra in on the way. "Deathstroke is a master strategist, as well as engineer, and seems to have faster mental capabilities. He is able to control a robot over a slow wireless connection and still keep up with fighting three of us, likely anticipating our moves in order to keep up. His robots have his training, and are almost as difficult to fight. In person, he's even better. He hasn't shown any other super powers, but he's a master manipulator. He managed to hold half the team hostage, just so that he could force Robin to become his apprentice."

Terra took a minute to absorb all that. "That's, scary."

"We almost never meet him in person," I continued. "He always uses his robotic henchmen to do his work, and sometimes uses them to communicate with us, like a video phone. He also can command Heartless, but they only fight. Most of the time, his robots are more efficient and more responsive, so he prefers to us those. If he shows up in person, it means he has an extreme interest in you. But you should never trust him. He will always twist the truth to get the reaction he wants from you. If you have to fight him personally, either himself or through a robot, you will never win unless you catch him off guard."

Terra seemed very nervous. "It's okay," I hugged her shoulders. "He almost never directly fights us, even through a robot. But since you're new to facing his robots, I'll stick nearby and help you out."

Raven spoke up. "I'll help too."

"Dudes!" Beast Boy whined. "I wanted to fight with her!"

"You're the tricky shapeshifter," I told him. "You can help everybody out."

Once we reached the mines, we found the place crawling with Deathbots. "Titans, go!" Robin shouted. He, Starfire, and Cyborg took the right flank. Beast Boy took the middle, charging as a Rhino.

"Terra, I'll fight close range while Raven covers long range," I pulled out my staff. "Use your powers to protect us and to fight. Focus on mid range. Got it?"

"Lets rock and roll!" Terra focused, pulling up some rocks to use.

And so we fought our way along the left side. Raven used her powers to shield us from laser fire and throw some I-beams around. Terra would change between throwing rocks, protecting Raven a couple times, and raising defensive walls. I fought any robot that got too close to either of them, my staff strong enough to dislocate their limbs and heads.

"We're doing good!" Terra cheered, hitting a falling robot away from us.

"Too good," Raven spoke up.

"Either this is a trap and Deathstroke's going to give them new orders," I theorized, "or he really wants us to win here."

"Why would he want us to win?" Terra asked.

"That's how he took half the team hostage," I told her. "It was part of a trap." Around us, the robots seemed to guess our strategy. Some of them turned their lasers from the two of us to Raven. "New orders it is," I guessed. With so many enemies focused on her, Raven had no choice but to shield herself, effectively taking her out of the fight.

"I'll help her!" Terra began firing rocks at the laser shooters, who nimbly dodged. However, this distracted her as well.

More robots began to appear, charging in for us. Three were on me at the same time, ready to strike. "Reflect!" I cast, trying to protect myself.

However, one of the robots leapt past me. In the second I was protected, and Raven was still pinned, Terra was wide open. Using something like a judo throw, Terra was sent into a nearby tunnel.

"Terra!" I yelled. As soon as my spell dispersed, I ran for her. However, several Deathbots headed me off and challenged me. Others continued for her. As I defended myself, I continued to call out. "This must be his end game, you!"

"Me?" Terra asked, a little afraid. She was backing away from several Deathbots, retreating into the tunnel.

"He must want you as his new apprentice!" I jumped over a sweep to my legs, then used my staff as a ground to rotate my body and kick another assailant. "Don't trust him, don't even listen to him!"

"I'm coming Terra!" Beast Boy yelled out. He then became a leopard, rushing to get to her.

Before she could respond, several Deathbots turned their lasers on her passage, caving it in. Beast Boy was too close, and got caught in the rubble.

"Beast Boy!" With Terra sectioned off, the Deathbots eased up on us and became more evenly distributed. I managed to break the neck of one, push him into another, and make my way to Beast Boy. The rest of the team joined me. Robin spoke up, "Cyborg, Starfire, give us cover! Everyone else, dig!"

We began to clear away the rocks. Soon, we found Beast Boy, transformed into an octopus. As he turned back, he smiled a bit, "Octopi don't have any bones for those rocks to brake." He then looked around. "Where's Terra?"

"Knowing Deathstroke," I told him, "he's arranging a meeting with her."

"Then we have to help her!" Beast Boy went ape, ready to pull those stones out.

"Wait BB," I commanded. "I may have a spell for that. Haven't tested if I learned it yet, so step back... Quake!"

I slammed my staff into the ground as I cast the spell. A small localized shockwave was released, and a few rocks sprouted around me. In the cavern opening, the rocks exploded outwards, clearing the path.

The robots seemed to notice, and made a renewed effort to block us off. However, Beast Boy and I weren't giving up on Terra. As the rest of the Titans moved to hold them off, we slipped into the tunnel and passed several destroyed robots. However, the Deathbots sealed it off again behind us. "Beast Boy, go hound. We need to track Terra."

He complied. With a nose like that, and ears to hear her footfalls, we made our way through the tunnels. However, a ways away, two explosions went off. Beast Boy shifted back, holding his ears. "That hurt..."

"I'm pretty sure that was Deathstroke himself," I guessed. "I can sense him. His darkness... He's here, in person."

"Then lets stop him!" Beast Boy went Rhino and began to head off.

"Wait," I called to him. "If we interrupt, he'll try again later. Lets try to sneak up on him, hear his plans, _then_ bust him."

After a pause, Beast Boy became an owl. Taking silent wing, he guided me down the dark tunnels. Soon, we found the next cave-in, and could hear fighting on the other side. "We need to listen in," I whispered. "Lets clear a small hole, quietly. I'll clear it all when we're ready to attack."

Beast Boy went chimp, carefully climbed the rocks, and began clearing them. He'd toss the rocks to me, I'd catch them, then carefully put them down. Soon, we had a sufficient hole to listen in, and Beast Boy returned to my side, clear of the wall. After a bit of fighting, Terra spoke up. "I'm not alone! The Titans will..."

"You don't belong with the Titans," Deathstroke said. "You don't belong anywhere."

"What do you know about me?" Terra scoffed at him.

"A great deal," Deathstroke's voice was steely. "I've been watching you for a long time now. I know your secret."

Beast Boy was itching for a fight, but I held him back. "Not yet," I whispered.

Terra seemed to fight back a bit. But Deathstroke kept talking. "Earthquakes that destroy neighborhoods. Avalanches that crush fellow mountain climbers. Mudslides that ruined crops. You try to play the hero, but in the end, you destroy everything."

"No!" Terra whimpered.

"You know the look on other people's faces," Deathstroke continued. "The fear, the anger, the loss. That is what you are, and what you bring. But it doesn't have to be that way. I can help."

"You... can?" Terra seemed hopeful.

"You have seen my robots," Deathstroke reminded her. "They start out as rough materials. But under my hands, under my tutelage, they become great. I can do the same for you."

"There, his plan," Beast Boy whispered.

"Sneak in, extra small," I answered. "Don't move until I blow the wall. If we want to beat him, we have to catch him off guard." Beast Boy went fly, and moved through the opening.

"Kana warned me not to trust you," Terra seemed unsure.

"Considering my history with them, I cannot blame him," Deathstroke admitted. "But you don't really belong with them. They'll find out your secret, and reject you."

"They wouldn't!" Terra almost shouted. "They accepted Raven..."

"She was a founding member," Deathstroke tried, "an exception. They couldn't remove her from the team."

"No, you're lying!" Terra yelled. I could see some sand and rocks fly through the opening. "They will accept me, and I don't need you!... NO! Don't lose control! Don't lose control!"

Another explosion happened. I remembered this was the point where Deathstroke escapes, and cast Quake to get through. I watched as he left through the other side, with a final remark, "Terra, how can you lose something you never had, and never will without my help?"

Terra was freaking out, lifted into the air by her powers. "Terra!" Beast Boy and I yelled at the same time. We tried to get through her dust devil, but it was too strong for even my Aero barrier.

"Beast Boy, go short and heavy!" I yelled over the wind. He seemed to hear me, and transformed into an ankylosaurus. Its shape and size helped it resist the wind, and I rode him through the tornado and into the eye.

Once there, I jumped up into the air, grabbing Terra's right hand. Beast Boy joined me on her left, and we joined hands. With a bit of surprise, she noticed us. "Terra," I almost whispered. "Look at us. Only us. Block everything out, only us." She seemed to be calming down. "We're here. We'll protect you. You're safe. I promise."

Slowly, we descended, her powers dissipating. After a few seconds of hugging, Terra spoke. "I'm sorry."

I was torn. I wanted to have a good relationship with Terra, but I didn't want to break World Order and repeat my mistake. I decided to warn her, against my better judgement. "After that, I'm pretty sure the rest of the team knows. It may be time to tell them."

Terra looked a bit scared, but she stayed in control of her powers. Together, we walked back to the rest of the team. Robin looked us over. "Deathstroke's robots left. Lets go home."

Once we returned home, Robin turned to everyone. "Terra, you look a little tired. Why don't you rest a bit? We'll call you in for dinner." Terra looked a little nervous, but left. "Beast Boy, Kana, what happened? We felt Terra's powers from where we were."

"Deathstroke wants to make her his apprentice," Beast Boy told them. "She got mad at him, and..."

Starfire gasped. "My new friend must not join that evil man!"

"My scanners showed that if she didn't stop, she would have collapsed most of the mine," Cyborg reported. "That would have been almost 4 square miles."

"If she stays in the city, she could destroy it," Robin thought.

"She kept her cool facing him better than you ever did Robin," I chastised him. "If she's kicked off the team for not staying calm, you would have been removed before even the Red X incident." Robin stared at me for reminding him. "She needs friends, a home, stability. Without those, she can never improve. I can tell she can be a great teammate. Even if you kick her out for the reason you should be, I'll join her and help her train."

Raven saw that I was up to bat for Terra, and joined me. "If she can't join due to her lack of control, I'll leave since I have the same problem."

"Dude," Beast Boy was surprised. "If Terra leaves, half the team would be gone. Not that I want her gone! I mean... I want her to join us."

"I wish for Terra to stay!" Starfire confirmed.

"I'm fine with her," Cyborg mentioned.

"I guess the vote is unanimous," Robin smiled, heading to get Terra.

Terra was hiding behind the door, and came out before he got there. "I heard what you said."

"We'd be honored for you to join us," Robin pulled out her own communicator.

Terra stared at it. "So... you guys know..."

"We can help you learn control," Robin confirmed.

"Can I practice on my own, in the desert?" Terra asked.

"Sure thing!" Robin smiled. "So, are you in?"

Terra thought for a minute, then took the communicator.

"Boo-yah!" Cyborg cheered. "Lets make a welcome feast! Breakfast for dinner on me!"

"I shall churn the fungus!" Starfire rushed off.

"Tofu burgers on the house!" Beast Boy got to work.

"Does that sound good, or do you want something else?" I asked.

Terra thought about it. "I'm good with anything." So we sat back and watched as three cooks tried to share the kitchen.

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**The cover's here! Many thanks to lunablaze1 from Deviantart!**

**Important Review Reponses... none again?**

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**I'm taking a break and giving my other stories time to catch up.**

**AnonymousGX**


	11. Fear Itself

**Sorry this took so long! I wanted the other stories to catch up.**

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Terra preferred to be alone when she practiced in the desert. She claimed that the solitude helped her concentrate. Raven agreed with her, but Robin wasn't to easily convinced. Finally, he agreed that she could have a day in the desert for every 2 days of Titan Island practice. Under his supervision, Terra started to learn how to use her geokinesis alongside an adaptive fighting style. (I may have given tips based on Toph's Earthbending...). Raven would meditate with her, hoping it would help. Starfire was still... Starfire, but soon her fixation on Terra waned to normal levels. Beast Boy was still an awkward admirer, but Terra was warming up to him.

Over the first few days, Cyborg and Robin were interested in how her powers worked. Their tests on her abilities of lifting various sizes, densities, and shapes took awhile. Then they moved on to composition; what types of earth could she lift and how well, could she harden minerals and metals and how long it would last, things like that. If a mineral resonated well with her, they'd repeat the initial tests on as much of that substance as they could borrow or rent. They had to take a break one day due to the Atlas incident, but it wasn't much.

Then one day, within a week of the Atlas challenge, a city emergency arose. Control Freak was attacking a video rental store. Robin told Terra to remain behind with Starfire and guard the tower. We never left anyone behind before; Tower security was tight. The fight itself was easy; I turned off the building's power before Cyborg made an EMP. With the remote out of power, everything Control Freak brought to life returned to normal, and we caught him easily.

I approached Robin as soon as we returned. "What was that about?"

"What?" Robin asked.

"Is Terra your personal lab rat?" I demanded. "Is that why she couldn't fight with us?"

Robin knew how much I wanted Terra to feel comfortable and involved, and answered without hesitation; usually a sign of non-excuse honesty. "We want to get her some ammunition for her powers."

"Ammunition?" I asked.

"Many of our fights take place inside the city limits," Robin reminded me. "While cement and brick are among her earthen affinities, we can't fix the city blocks after every fight."

"Good point..." I agreed. Terra would tear up the city to use her powers.

"We want to find a material that would suit her best," Robin continued. "Something that is light enough to carry, but large enough to become dense and cover both her offensive and defensive needs."

"I see..." I thought for a second. "Gaara."

"What?" Robin wasn't familiar with the name. Naruto didn't exist in the DC universe.

"Some fictional character a friend made up," I answered. "He can manipulate sand, and can break down rocks for more sand. He can also control the density of his sand, making it a fine mist or a drill-proof wall. He carries an initial volume of sand inside a sand-formed gourd."

"Terra can carry something like that," Robin agreed. "We just need the right material..."

"Or Terra can consciously carry it with her powers, negating the need for a light material to physically drag around," I added in. "Or we can make her an ATV with rocks in the trunk."

A door opened. Terra stepped inside. "I heard everything. Robin... I understand. I'm not ready for an intense fight inside Jump City. Kana, I'd love to drive an ATV!" She immediately began to enact what it would be like, revving the handlebar and using her foot to shift gears.

"I guess it's settled," Robin agreed, heading for the garage.

I followed him down and let him explain the concept to Cyborg. "I can do that and more!" Cyborg began to draw a blueprint. "I'll give it detachable brass panels."

"Brass?" I echoed.

"We were trying to find a metal Terra could wield," Robin answered. "Something she can use as a shield or platform."

Cyborg continued, "But strong stuff like tungsten or most steels... she can't touch them."

I remembered back to my high school classes. "Brass is a steel-copper alloy, right?"

"With other elements, yes," Cyborg answered.

"What if she can't manipulate the steel, but the copper?" I proposed. "What's the strongest copper alloy you can think of?"

Cyborg thought for a bit. "Beryllium. That could work; we just need to see if she can manipulate it..."

"I'll order a small amount," Robin agreed.

"If it works," I thought of something more, "can we make her a chestplate she can use to fly?"

Robin smiled at the idea. "Everybody up to the main room! NOW!" Beast Boy's voice carried over the speaker system.

Robin wasn't happy when we got up there. "What's the emergency?"

"Thanks to how we stopped Control Freak without damaging any property, we got infinite free movie rentals!" Beast Boy announced. "Behold! Wicked Scary, the ultimate edition! It is digitally enhanced, has the director's cut..."

"Great..." Raven cut in.

Beast Boy cut his fanboy craze short, "And we're gonna watch it tonight!"

"Movie night! Boo-yah!" Cyborg cheered.

"I shall explode the oil-covered seeds!" Starfire announced.

"The regular phrase is 'pop the popcorn'," I corrected her with a smile.

"Get ready for the movie so scary, it was banned in 30 countries!" Beast Boy put it in to load. "In fact, many people have reported that this movie is _cursed_."

Terra looked at me. I understood. "Guys, I think I'm gonna duck out of this one."

"Why?" Beast Boy turned to me. "Scared?"

"Not quite," I turned to Terra. "I promised Terra I'd work with her on her form."

Relived, Terra quickly jumped up and joined me. "Maybe next time guys," she grinned at them.

Robin gave us a good look. I saw the corner of his lip rise, his form of blinking. He then shrugged, "Don't overexert yourselves."

"Have a good movie night!" Terra smiled at them until the door closed. She then released her breath. "That was close."

"Robin knows what's really going on," I told her. She was afraid her powers would go nuts during the horror film. "I guess we really do have to train."

So we spent the next hour working on her technique. She wasn't bad, but she was getting better. After that, we headed for bed. As we passed the movie room, I went to peek at them, headphones in just in case. I saw every single one of them petrified. I found it cute how Starfire used Robin's cape as a blanket/shield. I then saw Raven. She was terrified, but her shadow began to move. It was as if some part of her was reacting. Curious, I felt Raven's mood, and found that her shadow was responding with her fear.

Terra noticed my concerned look. "What is it?"

"I think Raven's Worry is going to give us grief tonight..." I told her. "If something spooky happens, find me."

Terra didn't understand, but didn't question me further. We both headed to our rooms. But I didn't sleep; I waited. A couple hours later, I sensed a darkness permeate the tower; it was time. As I got out of bed, I heard a scream; the same one from the movie.

I rushed to the source, the living room. Robin and Starfire were already there. Beast Boy and Cyborg joined quickly, then Raven. "Who screamed?" She asked.

"None of us," Robin answered.

"Sounded just like the one in the movie," Cyborg remembered.

"But the movie is right here," Starfire held up the case.

Then the lights went out.

Cyborg quickly turned on his shoulder flashlight. "Now that, was creepy..."

"Maybe it's a bad circuit breaker," I suggested. "I'll head down to the basement and..."

"No!" Beast Boy shouted. "Remember the movie? The creature will..."

"I didn't watch the movie," I told him, "so I'm not haunted or cursed. What's the matter? Scared?" I felt something on my shoulder. "I'm supposed to say that cliche line right now, aren't I?" I leapt forward towards the team, turning to face it. The creature lifted its cloak, revealing its pale green form. It had tentacles for its four legs, four more behind its arms, mouths covering its torso and head, thin wispy hair, and eyes going in a circle around its head in line with where the nose should go.

"Titans! Go!" Robin shouted. Everybody jumped the creature, trying to pin it down. Raven tried to use her powers, but they didn't respond. "Beast Boy!" Robin called out.

BB turned around sheepishly, literally. "Sorry guys," he shifted back to human. "I thought you said 'Get away'." Right when he charged, the creature vanished.

"Oh... Kay..." I turned to everyone. "Is everyone alright?"

"I think so," Robin got up.

"My powers..." Raven struggled to stand, "they're not working."

"Could mean anything..." I pretended to think about it.

"Dudes!" Beast Boy shouted. "Where's Terra?!" True enough, Terra hadn't shown up that night.

Starfire gasped. "Did that creature..."

"I'll check her room," I offered. "You guys go ahead and check the circuit breakers."

As the Titans passed, I turned to Raven. "I can think of a couple reasons for what happened. One scenario involves your Emotions. Mind if I borrow your mirror?"

"I'm not afraid," Raven told me.

"I never said _you_ were," I responded. "But Worry can't even deal with a BB prank. She's super-sensitive. I want to check up on her."

Raven didn't speak for a bit. "... If my emotions are stirred, my mind won't be easy to transverse."

"I'll bring Terra along, if I can find her," I told Raven. "She's getting good at moving rocks." Raven looked like she wanted to stop me. "Join the others, let them know I'm investigating with Terra, if I find her. Please, trust me like you did with Anger."

That reminder helped calm Raven down. She went ahead, joining her teammates. I rushed to Terra's room. I knew she was still there from the hallway; she does snore loudly. I shook her awake. She got up groggily. "Wha... whaz goin on?"

"I called it," I reminded her. "That movie spooked Raven, and her dark powers brought it to life."

Terra stared at me. "I need your help to fix this."

Terra continued to stare, her eyes turning yellow. "Twice in a row? This is getting old... Terra, close your eyes and take my hand."

As she did, I turned around. The monster was there, in her room. I pulled out my Keyblade, brandishing it in the beast's direction. I was hoping a Light Keyblade would protect us from it. Sure, it recoiled at first, but then it lashed out, grabbing us. "Kana!" Terra yelled.

"Don't let go!" I shouted at her.

The beast then dragged us into the shadows. It was dark for a moment, but soon, we were left, huddled together. We were on a rocky outcropping, similar to when Anger took over Raven's mind. However, this time, there were no visible paths, and the world was bathed in a grey light. There was a dark cage around us, and Terra looked like she was paralyzed. Turning my Keyblade outward, I broke the cage easily.

The moment the cage broke, Terra snapped back to life. She was terrified, but was controlling her powers well; the ground was merely rumbling. "Where... What... was that..."

"An apparition that took the form of the movie's monster," I answered. "In reality, it's Raven's fear projected."

"Raven's... fear?" Terra asked.

"You'll have to ask her for the details, it's private," I waved the question. "For now, think of it this way. This dimension currently belongs to the monster. It sensed Raven's fear, and ripped it from her. With both Raven's fear and her powers, it manifested itself in our world."

Terra started to tremble at that. "It took us... into its nest?"

"If we can find Raven's fear," I began to circle the outcropping, looking for a path to appear, "we can return it to Raven, or help it overcome its fear. No power source, no monster, and we can go home."

Terra got up. "Okay... which way?"

"I've been here before..." I got a crazy idea; I stepped off the edge. Terra squeaked a yell, then noticed that I was standing on the side. "This place has the physics of Escher's Keep. And the path's right here."

Terra joined me cautiously, then saw the path extend before and below us. But the path was broken, the stones not aligned properly. Using her powers, Terra made the way straight, and we began to walk.

Soon, the path grew shadows, from which crawled familiar creatures. They were mostly blue, except for their grey three-clawed hands. "Unversed Scrappers," I identified.

"Unversed Scrappers?" Terra repeated.

"They sometimes appear here, these fractions of dark power," I answered simply. "Scrappers move in straight lines, looking for openings in your stance. Ready to fight?"

As Terra grabbed a few spare rocks, I moved in on one, Keyblade swinging. The Scrapper in front of me managed to block the attack. From the corner of my eye, I saw a second charge towards me. Stepping back, I let it pass and struck at its back. A few swings in, and it vanished. By this time, Terra was ready, using her stones as extensions of her fists. She threw a punch, sending a stone towards a Scrapper. When the Scrapper sliced it in three, she pounded her fists together, making the pieces crush it. Getting the idea, she continued like this, feinting them to block, then striking their sides.

Slowly, we advanced through their ranks, making our way down the path. After a few minutes, we reached a new plateau. On it, a dark vortex appeared. When it dissipated, we saw Beast Boy, curled up as an armadillo, enclosed in a dark red prison.

"Beast Boy!" Terra called to him. He didn't respond.

"I think the monster is taking prisoners..." I started to walk past him.

"Wait!" Terra stopped me. "Why don't we free him?"

"As long as he's in there, he's safe. Also, I don't want to attract the monster's attention," I told her. "Imagine things worse than the Scrappers appearing. Also, this place is private to Raven."

"But he..."

"Will be safe as long as he's in there," I cut her off, looking around. "Interesting. Normally, by this time, I would have met one of the people who live here..."

"People?" Terra asked.

"Again, private," I reminded her. "They may be nervous about meeting new people."

So we continued on our journey. The Scrappers were joined by a few Archravens, but we handled them. Beast Boy was joined by Robin, who also seemed petrified. Then we saw Starfire, and Terra grew worried about the team.

Finally, I saw her. "Raven's Worry," I named her. She was hiding in a rocky outcropping, but had the appearance of a child. Her cloak was a very dark grey; a visual sign that Raven was more afraid than usual.

"No... Stay away..." She was muttering, eyes squeezed shut.

"Worry, it's me. Kana," I was as gentle as I could be, slowly reaching towards her. "Remember? You led me through the maze."

"Stay away!" She pushed me out of the crevasse.

"You know her?" Terra was surprised. "Let me guess, private?"

"Yep, ask Raven when this is over." I turned back to Worry. "Trust me Worry. I'm here to help. I brought the Keyblade this time. It can take on the scary monsters."

Worry opened her eyes. "Kana?" she whimpered. She then leapt for me, giving me as big a hug as she could. "Kana, help me!"

"As long as I'm here, I will protect you," I promised her.

"Kana..." Terra pointed to a vortex. Cyborg was caught.

Worry saw him. "No... no..." She retreated back into her cave.

Various Unversed began to appear. Most of them were Archravens and Scrappers, but a few Axe Flappers were in the mix. As they did, Terra and I got ready to fight. "Worry!" I dodged an Aero from an Axe Flapper; Terra's stone dropped it for me to counter. "Worry! Look at us!"

"Kana! Behind you!" Worry shouted out.

A Scrapper was almost on top of me. "Three times tonight? Reflect!" I turned its strike against it and a swooping Archraven, then defeated both with a spin attack. "These things are made by your fear! If you concentrate, you can control them!"

"I... I can't..." she gasped.

"Then I guess we have to alert Raven. Terra, cover us!"

As Terra used her stones to hold off the horde, I crouched down in front of Worry. "Calm down, and focus on Raven. ... Can you see her?"

"The monster... rats..." Worry moaned. I focused my Dreamer powers, hoping to enhance the connection between them. "Stay back! You don't scare me!"

I noticed the voice. Worry was still a child, but the voice was teenage Raven. I got the connection I wanted. "Raven, can you hear me?"

"Kana?" Raven was surprised.

"Those creatures are feeding off of Worry here," I told her, maintaining the link. "They are yours! You can control them. You can defeat them!"

"I can't... My powers..."

"Are being used by them through Worry," I informed her. "They're using your powers, and your repressed fear. But you don't have to repress it. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear."

"I... I am afraid," Raven answered. "But that doesn't mean I can't help my friends!"

I noticed Worry's cloak lightened up a bit. "That's it!" I cheered.

"Kana!" Terra was struggling. "I can't hold them back!"

"We can use Spunk and Anger right now..." I tried to tell Raven.

"Terra!" It was Worry; I had lost my focus.

I turned to the horde in front of us. "We have to protect Worry, make sure she feels safe!" So I joined the fray.

The fight didn't take long. With Raven overcoming her fear in Titan Tower, the Unversed began to dissipate on their own. Soon, they were gone. Worry crawled out, then resumed her teenage form. "You two..."

"We did it!" Terra cheered, going for a high five.

Worry shrunk away from it. "I don't deserve this. I brought those monsters to the Titans... I imprisoned them... I put you all in danger..."

"How many times to I have to remind you?" I got her attention. "You didn't mean to do any of it, so you shouldn't need to apologize."

"That's right!" Terra agreed. "It was the monster, not you." Terra noticed Worry's look. "But it's gone now. Raven's not afraid of it anymore."

"If you want to feel better, can you lead us to the door home?" I asked Worry. "After tonight, I can use a long rest."

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**And so, Terra is slowly altering how events happen. Not their order; just how they play out.**

**Important Review Responses... Empty...**

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**AnonymousGX**


	12. Titan Rising

**Sorry I've been gone so long! DuelingNetwork went offline due to copyright, so I lost my decks. So I found a couple old games, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Guel Generation. I'm using them to try to recreate each deck and find enemies with decks I need, but its very long and tedious. AND during that time, I lost some of my drive to write. Hopefully, I can resume both duels and writing more frequently...**

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A couple weeks ago, Robin wasn't happy that he was forced to go to prom. But when I pressed Kitty for more information, she admitted she wanted to make her not-ex-boyfriend jealous. When we heard the name Fang, I pointed out the potential connection to the arachnid-headed boy. A moth girl and a spider boy dating wasn't that far of a stretch, so Robin actually looked forward to prom. Sure, Starfire was shocked at first. But she took up a mantra in Tamaranian during the whole operation. I'm not sure of the exact translation, but it's something like 'We're going to catch that [insult I'm pretty sure is for mate-stealer] and her [insult for Fang]!'

She repeated it several times a minute once the Prom date actually started, and for a good reason: Robin perfectly acted like a real gentleman/boyfriend (without kissing) without Kitty prompting him. While the other Titans were searching for Killer Moth's lair, I figured I could provide Robin with backup. So, I invited Terra to the Prom. We wore disguises so that Kitty and Fang wouldn't recognize us. We had a lot of fun at the dance, and she was somewhat popular with the other boys. Just when we were forgetting the mission, Fang came back for Kitty. With four Titans on the scene, we managed to capture them both without ruining the party.

A few days after the Moth Prom incident, Cyborg finally finished Terra's ATV, complete with detachable Beryllium panels. It was a mini-jeep (when the panels were attached), had 4 seats, a strong engine, a large trunk for rocks, and a near indestructible frame. Terra got so excited, I was surprised she didn't accidentally turn our base into the Leaning Tower of Titan. After a few test runs, using the ATV both offensively and defensively, and discovering how much weight she could hold on each panel (enough to rescue civilians and surf through the air on one), we believed she was ready.

However, Starfire wasn't there for those test/training exercises. She was acting awkward, covering herself up and hiding when startled. I knew what was up, but had to pretend I didn't. So when Robin mentioned the behavior, my only response was to write her sister...

"You've been communicating with Blackfire?!" Robin yelled at me.

"Starfire and I thought that she might like the letters," I replied. "She's only a villain for the kicks, so maybe hearing about an action-filled superhero gig, and support from friends, would make her change her mind when she gets out."

"If she gets out..." Robin growled back. "Fine. Write her."

So I sent another message to her, in addition to my regular weekly 'journal'. I detailed what Starfire was covering up in order, and attached a couple pictures that our security feeds snapped.

To my surprise, she wrote back a few days later. It was written in both English and Tameranian, which I hadn't yet learned. This was her first ever response; either because she finally wanted to or the guards finally allowed it.

_Kana, t__hank you for the letters.  
__The guards wouldn't let me respond until now. And they only want me to talk about my sister. Starfire, as you know, is Tameranian. This process she's going through is called the Transformation. I think humans call their Transformation 'Puberty'. From what you told me, she is gradually growing uglier, limb by limb. If you're right, she still has some time to go before she turns into a chrysalis, something rare among Tameranian Transformations. Once she does, she'll have a few minutes until she emerges as her original self. She'll also gain laser vision once she does, like I did. After that, the Transformation will be over._

The letter cut off at that point. No other info, nothing for me (aside from the thanks), no words for Starfire, not even her own name was on it. I guess she tried to end it with something personal, and the guards deleted it. I printed out a copy, just in case.

Soon after I collected the printout, the alarm went off. Plasmus was awake again, and attacking a football field. As the other Titans, sans Starfire, took the T-Car, Beast Boy and I rode with Terra, and explained Plasmus to her.

Once we arrived, Plasmus had ripped some kind of sewage pipe out of the ground and was drinking it. "Ewww!" Beast Bot got his attention, "and I thought you were gross before!"

In response, Plasmus vomited a blast of himself at us. The other Titans scattered. "Terra, guard!" I called out. Acting quickly, she removed the pins from the ATV's sides and used them as a shield. I grabbed the door handle, strong enough to support 250 pounds, "Up and around!"

Terra understood my plans, since we went over them in the car. Lifting her own sufboard and the car door, we flew towards Plasmus. As we approached, I looked over the field. "Terra, there are no bystanders to worry about."

"I already looked, genius," Terra smiled at me. "I'm not that green."

I recognized that little inside joke, and decided to finish it. "Keep it together copper-head," I smiled back after a near miss from Plasmus.

"Titans, go!" Robin shouted out. As Beast Boy and Cyborg prepared their 'Rhino Fastball', I started casting Blizzard. I intentionally aimed at the pipe first, to seal it. But rather than retreat from my ice like he used to, Plasmus broke it.

"Guys, he really wants that sludge..." I worried. I continued to shoot ice at him, but each blast was now only making him flinch before he shrugged it off.

"Titans, push him back!" Robin shouted.

Cyborg was ready, and threw BB-Armadillo as hard as he could. Timing it right, Beast Boy unrolled and went Rhino, preserving his momentum as he flew towards Plasmus. In retaliation, he backhanded BB-Rhino away, then threw a gunk shot at Cyborg. Cyborg dodged, then proceeded to sonic blast Plasmus, producing concussive sounds that should knock Plasmus' human part unconscious with a direct blast. However, Plasmus seemed to be fully formed, since no blasts found a human ear to hit.

Once Plasmus finally hit Cyborg, he turned back to the pipe. He then noticed that Terra and Raven were working together to fix and bury the pipe. With a furious growl, he turned his gunk shots at Terra first. I stopped it with a Blizzard, using the last of my stored magic. Now alerted to their danger, Terra went defensive with her panels while Raven tried to restrain Plasmus.

Her attempts failed, and Plasmus kept moving towards the sewer sludge. Finally, the familiar starbolts struck him, reducing him to a puddle.

As the Titans cheered, Starfire came down and into the stadium lights. She was dressed for a flood and a blizzard at the same time, and the other Titans took notice. "Woah girl, what are you wearing?" Cyborg asked.

I remembered Blackfire's letter in my pocket. But as I turned to look at said pocket, I saw Plasmus again. He was still a puddle. "Guys..." I got their attention, "doesn't Plasmus revert to human form when defeated?"

Robin realized what was wrong. "The pipe... He's bathing in the sewage! Titans, back!"

As soon as he said that, Terra's patch job exploded outward. The new and improved Plamus appeared; larger, with uneven teeth, and covered in green zits. "Now that, is just gross," Terra shuddered before pulling her panels into a defensive position. Several other Titans agreed.

"Now matter how nasty he gets," Robin spoke up, "a monster is a monster, and we'll take it down like every other!"

I saw Starfire gasp at that, while Robin attacked with his disk bombs. They merely irritated Plasmus, who responded with a green continuous blast of his new zits. While the other Titans dodged, Starfire was hit hard. "Starfi-Star?" Robin's call to her being hit changed into a query. The blast had knocked off her hastily-dressed accessories and revealed her Transformation.

The other Titans turned to look. Even Plasmus showed some humanity by staring as well, but not for long. With a screech, he prepared another attack. All the Titans, except Starfire and Robin, took up the fight again. Ashamed at what she looked like, Starfire fled to space, Robin yelling for her to stay.

"Later, Robin!" Cyborg snapped him back to Earth. "We still have Ugly here to deal with!"

"... Right," Robin turned his attention back to Plasmus. "Cyborg, find a sonic frequency that disrupts Plasmus, not blows him open. Terra, keep us covered. Raven, try to find his human self."

Slowly, the team found what worked. Cyborg began to destabilize the molecular bonds holding Plasmus up, Raven used her powers to draw out his inner human, and the rest of us put him to sleep.

The next few days were feverish for Robin, and a migraine for Cyborg. Desperate to get Starfire back, Robin had Cyborg convert the T-Sub into a T-Rocket. Of course I showed Robin Blackfire's reply. While that didn't make him feel any better about either Tameranian, the knowledge both helped and scared him.

Once the launch date was ready, Terra spoke up. "Guys, are we really going to abandon Jump City to find Starfire?"

"Of course!" Robin said. "I will not leave any man behind!"

"But do we all have to go? Up there?" Terra asked, a twinge of fear in her voice.

"Robin," I spoke up. "The whole team probably doesn't have to go into space after her. Let Terra and I stay behind and watch the city."

Robin stared at us for a bit. "Fine. Cyborg, you're the mechanic so you're coming. Raven, if anything goes wrong with takeoff, your powers can eject us safely."

"I'm coming too!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "There's no way I'm missing out on seeing alien animals!" Robin growled. "Oh, and also to find Starfire! Why not find Starfire? Starfire is great! I miss Starfire!" Beast Boy nervously laughed, which made Terra chuckle.

After takeoff, I turned to Terra. "Afraid of heights?"

She nervously laughed. "No, but outer space? No rocks, no dirt?"

I understood. "And a metallic ship that if you manipulate you die?" She nodded. "Well, let's keep this city together until they get back."

That afternoon, we went to the police and introduced Terra formally. I figured it'd be helpful for the local authorities to know more about our new member and her abilities. At their request, we had Terra run through a few training scenarios in the city streets. They wanted to make sure she could handle fighting there without accidentally wrecking the place. A robbery exercise here, a bank heist there. She did tear up a road to pen in a car jacking, but she didn't damage anything else and easily restored the road. After passing with flying colors, we went out to eat and had a lazy evening.

The next day, nothing of note happened. But the third day, we got a hit on the Richter Scale. This surprised me, since Deathstroke was supposed to do this _after_ the Titans got back. Then again, since Terra is already a member, he may have moved up his time table.

As Terra drove us to the source of the rumble, I started thinking long and hard. I was doing my best to keep the timeline on track, but something was up. I doubted it was the Heartless, since Deathstroke was handling them surprisingly well. The only thing I could figure, he was after me this time. And that scared me. In the Dream World, things went bad after I made one mistake in the timeline.

Terra noticed my pensive look. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I hope," I answered.

"Just because the other Titans aren't here doesn't mean we can't handle this," Terra guessed my thoughts.

As we turned the corner, we saw it. Deathstroke did indeed have his gigantic green mecha-worm on the loose. "Terra, that's a tunneling machine."

She looked up at it, dismantling the panels and getting some rocks out of the trunk. "Maybe I can give it some indigestion." She started shrinking the rocks behind her, making them denser than normally possible.

"Give me a boost first, I'll distract it," Using a panel, she guided me to a nearby roof. The worm seemed fixated on me, and I saw its eye glow. "Reflect!" The laser was no match for my shield. But as I maintained it, the worm began to charge. Dispelling it swiftly, I jumped onto the worm's back. There, I carefully slid down its back and found a joint. Pulling my staff out, I managed to wedge it in.

The mecha-worm noticed the pinprick, and started wriggling. Rather than grab my pole, I slid off towards a building. "Kana!" Terra yelled out.

I righted myself in the air. "I'm fine!" While I didn't have Air Dash yet, I still had Flowmotion. Placing my feet firmly on the building, I felt the power stick me to the side and invigorate my legs. I began running up the side, then kicked off to the worm. "Make three hammers and drive the nails in!"

Seeing my staff, Terra understood. Once I reached the worm, I again used Flowmotion, but this time in my hands as a slick buffer. By placing my palm on the worm and swinging my hips right, I began to slide towards the vertical part of the worm. Hand-springing off, I proceeded to jump further and further up, back to my still-inserted staff. I then pulled out my two short sticks, slid down the back, and inserted them into more joints.

Finally, Terra was ready. Manipulating herself on her board, three super-dense rocks, and a panel for me, she rose. After catching me, she struck each pole in. The middle one did nothing, but the other two began to spark. Disrupting its circuitry, the robot fell, motionless.

A couple officers that set up a wide perimeter ventured towards us cautiously, but the machine didn't stir. "Thank you Kana, Terra."

"It was nothing sir!" Terra saluted, getting a salute back. She then gasped, and looked at the ground. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" I asked.

"I thought..." Terra focused again. "No, I do feel something."

The officer looked nervously at the robot. "No, not there," Terra reassured him. "But its big, and coming towards us. From that way."

"Seismic Sense... Officer!" I got his attention. "Get back to the perimeter, keep it up. Another mecha-worm may be coming."

As he hurried off, talking into his radio, we prepared for another bout. However, I was out of staffs, and only had my swords and a couple daggers.

As soon the second and third worms appeared, they dove back underground. Terra felt them leave. "They're not coming back..."

"Police!" I called out to them. "We're going to follow the robots. This area should be secure."

As we dove in, Terra used her surfboard and a panel for us to try to catch up. "What were those worms doing?" she asked.

"The first one got our attention, these two are guiding us..." I answered.

"You don't think..." Terra asked calmly.

"It matches his basic M.O.," I answered, "and his level of robot AI and control."

"So Deathstroke is back."

"I don't know," I answered. "No Deathstroke Androids, no Heartless..."

"Are these worms a diversion?" Terra asked.

"That's a good plan," I answered, relaying that worry to the police via my communicator. "But these worms are too threatening to ignore." I finished the message, "but for now, the police will have to figure that out."

Soon, we reached a large cavern. Terra looked around as I dismounted. I spoke up. "This is either a trap, or one of his stages..."

Terra got off her board. Immediately, she started moving. "Get behind me!"

I quickly followed her. As I did, the two last worms appeared, drills active. They then left again, this time angling their tunnels upward.

"Let's go after them!" Terra shouted, rising on her board.

"Wait!" I called after her. She came back down. I pulled out my communicator. "Something about this place doesn't feel right. Why build this large room, if we weren't supposed to do anything here? Just a sec... my communicator is picking up wireless activity. Can you sense anything else down here?"

As she used her newfound seismic sense, I too reached out with my Keybearer senses. "The worms are too loud..." Terra moaned. "Wait... There's something else rumbling, that way, and deep."

Since I couldn't reach that far on Keyblade powers alone, I switched to my Dreamer senses. It was a strain, even for that. "I sense a Darkness down there. It's Deathstroke's." I reached farther out. "He has another set of worms down there, in a ring... He's right underneath Titan Tower!"

"What do we do?" Terra asked.

"Tunnel to him and switch off his worms with his remote." I answered.

It took several minutes, but we finally broke through. Extra sturdy scaffolding prevented the large cavern from collapsing. Three large worms were interconnected, circling the roof via rocket propulsion. Directly under them, a computer console was set up.

Terra lifted a few boulders from the walls. "There's the controller!"

"Wait!" I stopped her. "His robots have both wireless control and AI. If we destroy the remote, they continue their mission."

Terra put her rocks down nearby. "So, what's the plan?"

"Turn them off." I approached the computer and hit a key. Immediately, the screen prompted me for a password.

"A password?" I pulled my Keyblade out. "Good thing I have the key."

Terra almost groaned at the pun. "I thought you said not to smash..." A light emanated from the end of my Keyblade, hitting the computer. Immediately, the password screen disappeared, and we saw the program running. "Oh."

"Now to decode this..." However, I had no idea how to stop it. As I looked over the keyboard, I felt Deathstroke's Darkness, and knew he was approaching. I then remembered the Dreaming World for Tron. Reaching for my Flowmotion power, I channeled it into the computer. By instinct as strong as a sneeze, I dove into the computer's keyboard, barely aware of Terra yelling. From the inside, I was surrounded by numbers and colors. It was disorienting. But as I focused, I was able to make out what segments of the code were saying. Quickly, I found 'Power Off Drones", collected, and compiled that code.

As I exited the computer, I heard the sound of rocket propellers dying down. Sure enough, the worms above us were shut off, and were slowly beginning to descend. Another alert from my Keyblade guided me into blocking a surprise attack from Deathstroke. "How... unique of you," Deathstroke told me. "You have provided me with valuable information on that Keyblade of yours."

"Mind continuing this conversation outside?" I nodded towards the descending worms.

As Deathstroke looked up, he kicked me back, then dodged a rock thrown by Terra. The rocket boosters were slowly losing power, but were still decently strong "We have a little time... Now, how did you find this place?"

"Did you ever consider that your personal Darkness stinks just that much?" I asked him.

"And I found this place first!" Terra affirmed her help.

"I don't smell that bad, or else you would have come looking for me several times before now," Deathstroke answered. "But as for you, Terra. Your ability to sense the earth is impressive."

"I wasn't kidding Deathstroke," the worm engines were sputtering. "Terra, tunnel, now!"

As we retreated, Deathstroke starting running for an elevator. "I'll be ready for you, next time."

After we got to a safe distance, Terra turned around to safely fill the hole. Luckily, the Tower wasn't damaged or moved in the slightest. The worms had barely reached the surface, and hadn't interlocked. When the Titans returned with Starfire, we had cleaned the worms up. "Friends!" Starfire greeted us. "Robin told me that my sister wrote back."

"The guards don't want her to write us anything," I replied. "We got lucky they allowed her to explain your situation. How were things in space?"

Beast Boy started to speak up, but Robin cut him off. "Nothing much. How were things here?"

I looked to Terra. She replied, "Everything was running smooth."

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